World number one Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round of the Qatar Open, losing to Ekaterina Alexandrova in a tense three-set match. Other notable upsets saw Coco Gauff and Zheng Qinwen exit the tournament, while Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula and Linda Noskova advanced.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shocking defeat in the second round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday. The Belarusian was beaten by Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) in a tense match that lasted over two and a half hours. This was Sabalenka's first match since losing the Australian Open final to Madison Keys in January.Alexandrova, ranked 26th, recovered from going a set down to level the match in the second set.
During a point with the score at 2-2, 40-30 to Sabalenka, a cat wandered onto the court, inspecting the proceedings before casually leaving via the players' entrance. Alexandrova shrugged off the interruption to level the match, then held her nerve to force a deciding tie-break which she won 7-5.Sabalenka was competing at the Qatar Open for the first time since 2022, having won the title in 2020. This tournament marks the first WTA 1000 event of the season. Other notable upsets included Coco Gauff, who lost in straight sets to Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk. Former US Open champion Gauff, playing for the first time since a quarter-final loss to Paula Badosa at the Australian Open, made 39 unforced errors. Kostyuk, meanwhile, will face Poland's Magda Linette in the third round. Elsewhere, Elena Rybakina, seeded fifth, saw off Peyton Stearns in her opening match, winning 6-2, 6-4. Rybakina will face Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova in the third round. Chinese seventh seed Zheng Qinwen joined Gauff in exiting the tournament, losing 6-4, 6-2 to Ons Jabeur. Jabeur, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, claimed her first victory against a top-10 opponent since last year's Madrid Open.Jasmine Paolini, last year's French Open and Wimbledon runner-up, also began her campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Caroline Garcia. American sixth seed Jessica Pegula defeated Elina Svitolina in a hard-fought match 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), while ninth seed Badosa lost in straight sets to Amanda Anisimova. Czech youngster Linda Noskova secured a last-16 tie against three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek, winning 6-2, 6-3 against Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva.
TENNIS QATAR OPEN ARYNA SABALENKA EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA COCO GAUFF MARTA KOSTYUK ZHENG QINWEN ONS Jabeur JASMINE PAOLINI JESSICA Pegula LINDA NOSKOVA
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