Sakkari, Bencic Tuesday Winners In Doha; Swiatek-Collins, Kvitova Gauff Tomorrow
Fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari ousted China’s Qinwen Zheng in three sets 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round at the WTA 500 event.
Sakkari fired seven aces, won 36/49 (73%) first service points, 14/24 (58%) on second serves and broke serve four times.
Zheng drops to 3-4 against Top 10 players. Sakkari has never lost to Zheng, leading 2-0 in tour-level head-to-head meetings.
No. 6 Daria Kasatkina got by Rebecca Marino in straights 7-6(7-5), 6-2. The 7th-seeded Belinda Bencic had an easy victory over Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria 6-0, 6-1. Beatriz Haddad Maia moved past Paula Badosa of Spain in two sets 7-6(8-6), 6-3. Former champion Petra Kvitova topped Shuai Zhang in two sets 7-5, 6-2.
Former French champion Jelena Ostapenko eliminated Madison Keys 7-5, 6-2.
“Today was such a tough match and she’s such a great player. She was serving really well in the beginning of the match. But I was fighting, and I think I found my game in the end,” The Latvian told the WTA.
“I was trying to not give her any free points. I knew she hits the ball hard, so I was trying to stay in the rallies until I had the chance to go for it. In the second set especially, I did it well.”
Sofia Kenin enjoyed an easy win over Abu Dhabi finalist Liudmila Samsonova in two sets 6-3, 6-1. Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia easily handled Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-2 and Danielle Collins defeated Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6-4, 7-6(8-6).
Wednesday’s schedule sees Collins return to face No. 1 Iga Swiatek. No. 2 Jessica Pegula debuts against Ostapenko, No. 3 Caroline Garcia faces Karolina Muchova and Kvitova collides with No. 4 Coco Gauff. Bencic also battles former champion Victoria Azarenka.
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