On another bustling day at the WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open, Paula Badosa, Ons Jabeur and Elina Svitolina were among Monday's first-round victors, while Leylah Fernandez notched a Top 10 upset to make the Round of 16.
Doha: Draws | Scores | Order of play
No. 9 seed Badosa of Spain had to battle to make it into the second round. She outlasted lucky loser Renata Zarazua of Mexico 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in 1 hour and 47 minutes, posting her first win since she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open.
Badosa was scheduled to play Katerina Siniakova, but the Czech withdrew mid-day due to a left hamstring injury. Siniakova had been hampered by a left leg injury in last week's Cluj-Napoca semifinals as well.
World No. 68 Zarazua stepped in for the nightcap match, and Badosa was able to ease through the first set relatively comfortably. However, Zarazua's rally tolerance helped her tie up the match, putting the Mexican one set away from her first Top 10 win in five attempts.
But Badosa quickly powered to a 3-0, double-break lead in the decider, and she was able to hold on from there, despite surges of excellent rallies by Zarazua. At 5-2, Badosa slammed her 14th ace of the day to reach match point, and she used one last big serve to wrap up the win.
Badosa will be back on Center Court tomorrow night for her second-round encounter against Amanda Anisimova of the United States. Anisimova won their only previous meeting, 7-5, 6-4 in the third round of the 2024 Australian Open.
Ons is on fire: Earlier on Center Court, Arab superstar Jabeur thrilled the Doha crowds with a 6-2, 6-0 dismissal of McCartney Kessler. The Tunisian needed just 56 minutes to slice and dice her way past the power-hitting American.
"I thought I played really good today," Jabeur said in post-match press. "The level was very high. I definitely played my game, and listened to my coach, probably for the first time," she added with a grin.
Former World No. 2 Jabeur, the highest-ranked Arab player in tennis history, is making her milestone 10th Doha main-draw appearance this week. She kicked this run off with a bang, winning 89 percent of her second-service points en route to a swift win over 57th-ranked Kessler.
A two-time Doha quarterfinalist, Jabeur will need to collect a Top 10 win in order to make this week's Round of 16. Jabeur's next match will be against No. 7 seed Zheng Qinwen of China, their first meeting since the 2023 US Open. Zheng holds a 2-0 lead in their head-to-head.
Elina squeaks through: In a clash between former Top 10 players, Ukraine's Svitolina shook off a tough first set to overcome Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 in 1 hour and 54 minutes.
Highlights: Svitolina def. Vondrousova
Svitolina also had to fight back from an early break down in the third set, and she missed out on one match point at 5-4 before breaking for the win at last. Former World No. 3 Svitolina now holds a slim 4-3 lead in her rivalry with 2023 Wimbledon champion Vondrousova.
Next up for Svitolina will be a second-round meeting with No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula of the United States, last year's US Open runner-up. Pegula leads their head-to-head 4-2, but Svitolina won their most recent meeting at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Top 10 win for Leylah: A round ahead of the aforementioned winners, Fernandez booked a Round of 16 spot with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 8 seed Emma Navarro. World No. 27 Fernandez took only 66 minutes to grab her eighth career Top 10 win.
Highlights: Fernandez def. Navarro
Despite their current rankings, Fernandez has had the upper hand on Navarro in the past. Fernandez leads their tour-level head-to-head 3-1 -- and the Canadian also defeated Navarro handily in the 2019 Junior Roland Garros final.
