Former champion Victoria Azarenka withdrew from her match against Madison Brengle in the second round of the WTA 1000 Qatar Open. The Belarusian tennis player, who is a former number one in the world, had a thigh injury and chose not to play against the American.
The 15th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko had a hard match, winning by 2-1 (6:3, 4:6, 6:4) over Amanda Anisimova. The former Roland Garros champion needed 99 minutes to eliminate the American on her way to her seventh consecutive victory. In the third set, the Latvian took the lead with 4:0 to end the match at her third opportunity.
In the next round, Jelena Ostapenko will play with one of the top-seeded in the tournament Barbora Krejcikova.
The 17-year-old American Cori “Coco” Gauff, who is number 14 in the scheme, eliminated the French player Caroline Garcia with 2-0 (6:2, 7:6).
The 9th-seeded American Jessica Pegula eliminated Kaja Juvan from Slovenia with 2-0 (6:3, 6:3).
The 8th-seeded Tunisian Ons Jabeur also continues in Doha after a victory against Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Belarus) in three sets with 2-1 (1:6, 7:5, 6:3).
