Wednesday’s second-round action at the Qatar Total Open was packed with Grand Slam champions and former world number ones. Let’s do a photo recap and see who advanced to the quarterfinals.
Angelique Kerber looked like a shell of a three-time major winner as Anett Kontaveit routinely eliminated her 6-1 6-4.
The 24th-ranked Kontaveit dropped serve just once in today’s second-round match and improved her head-to-head record against the 2014 Doha finalist to 4-1.
Rocking the Nike Spring Slam Melbourne Tank and Skirt, 2018 Doha champion Petra Kvitova outhit Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in their 13th career meeting.
Fourth seed Kvitova’s 31 winners to 19 unforced errors and a 76% first serve percentage led her to a straightforward 6-1 6-3 victory which earned her a quarterfinal meeting with Kontaveit.
Eighth seed Victoria Azarenka survived Laura Siegemund‘s diversity of shots and 25 winners to progress into the quarterfinals with a 6-4 6-2 win.
Azarenka’s quarterfinal opponent will be her Doha doubles partner Elina Svitolina, as the top-seeded Ukrainian eased past lucky loser Misaki Doi 6-1 6-2 in 64 minutes.
Maria Sakkari of Greece looked really sharp in a 6-2 6-2 win over American Madison Keys, who appeared rusty in her second match of the season.
Next up for Sakkari will be Garbine Muguruza, who dispatched defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3. On paper this encounter was the blockbuster of the day and it lived up to the expectations, as Muguruza came back from a break down in the decider.
Second seed Karolina Pliskova completed the quarterfinal field late at night with a 6-4 4-6 7-5 win over Ons Jabeur. The Czech’s next opponent will be American qualifier Jessica Pegula, who advanced to her second quarterfinal of 2021 with a 6-2 7-5 win over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
All the four quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday, starting at 2:30 pm Doha time.
