Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) continues to demonstrate her excellent form and today she defeated Zhu Lin (China) by 2-0 (6:1, 6:2) at the second round of the women’s tournament WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha. Just two days ago, she convincingly triumphed at the tournament in Abu Dhabi, where she decisively dealt with Daria Kasatkina.
Elena Rybakina needed exactly 60 minutes, taking a 3:0 lead in the first set, and in total needed two breaks in each set. Zhu Lin even tried backhand attacks in the second set, but did not helped, as the Kazakhstani tennis player reflected all the shots.
Clearly at her best at the moment, Elena Rybakina finished with seven aces and dropped just three points on her first serve. On the other hand, he did not allow a single break point throughout the game and converted four of seven such opportunities. Her next opponent is Emma Navarro (USA), who eliminated Elise Mertens (Belgium) by 2-0 (6:1, 6:3) without any problems.
The second-seeded at the WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open, Cori Coco Gauff (USA), was knocked out at the start in Doha. She lost to Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) by 0-2 (2:6, 4:6).
Maria Sakkari also is out of the tennis tournament. The Greek tennis player lost in three sets to the young Czech sensation Linda Noskova after 1-2 (6:3, 6:7, 5:7). Linda Noskova entered the match a bit clumsily and her serve looked uncertain, but a break that she made for 5:5 in the second set turned the tide of the match. She raced into the tiebreak with a 5-0 lead that could not be overcome. In the third, the two played very steady and sure, with Linda Noskova hitting her shot at 6:5 and then taking her serve.
Naomi Osaka (Japan) continues her return to the best. In the first round, she eliminated Caroline Garcia (France) in the first round, and is already in the third, after today she dealt with Petra Martic (Croatia) by 2-0 (6:3, 7:6). In the first set, the Japanese player made some perfect plays that reminded of her pre-maternity period. In the second half, errors from both directions sent the match into a tiebreak where Osaka trailed but eventually pulled out a commanding victory
Those hoping Osaka would face her doubles partner from last week, Ons Jabeur (Tunisia), in the next round were disappointed as the Tunisian went down to Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) in straight sets. The Ukrainian tennis player won by 2-0 (6:3, 6:2). Ons Jabeur looked upset and was in pain on the court at times. During one shift, she sat in her chair shaking her head, apparently frustrated with her level of play or with pain she couldn’t overcome
The 5th-seeded Qinwen Zheng (China) defeated Magda Linette (Poland) by 2-1 (6:2, 2:6, 6:3) and in the next round will face Leylah Fernandez (Canada), who won her match versus Paula Badosa (Spain) by 2-1 (0:6, 6:2, 6:3).
Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) eliminated Anhelina Kalinina (Ukraine) after 2-0 (6:0, 6:3) and Danielle Collins (USA) advances ahead after a win versus Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic) by 2-0 (6:4, 7:5).