Round of 16. Bertens def Suarez Navarro

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[vector_icon icon=”fas fa-microphone”] Match Recap from Announcer Andy Taylor, Voice of the Qatar Total Open

Kiki Bertens advances to the Quarterfinals

Two days, two recoveries. Kiki Bertens hasn’t been the poster-child of precision and focus this week. Yesterday, Ostapenko “bageled” her in the first set. 2-points away from elimination, somehow Kiki came-back to win the match.

Also absent in the 1st-set today, she snapped-to at the start of the second, and never looked back. After a pair of recoveries, hopefully she’s finally locked-in for her clash with Elise Mertens tomorrow.

Tough loss for Carlita. The 2016 Doha title remains her biggest career triumph. She also reached the Doubles Final that year. Since then, she hasn’t made it past the 2nd-Round.

Head to Head: Third meeting between these two players

• 2019 Doha R16 | [5] Kiki Bertens -08- (NED) def Carla Suarez Navarro -26- (ESP) | 26 61 61
• 2014 Florianopolis R16 | [1] Carla Suarez Navarro -15- (ESP) def [5] Kiki Bertens -119- (NED) | 63 76(2)
• 2011 Bucharest (ITF) QF | [6] Carla Suarez Navarro -89- (ESP) def [5] Kiki Bertens -189- (NED) | 62 76(9)

Originally, this match was scheduled for Court-1

Due to Fed Cup, illness and injury, it has been a crazy year of withdrawals here in Doha. Originally, today’s second match on center court was supposed to feature Elise Mertens versus 2017 Champion Karolina Pliskova. Instead, Karolina became the 23rd player to withdraw from this year’s tournament.

Needless to say, it’s been a rough five days for the Tournament Supervisor and Tournament Emcee.

Fed Cup Fatigue: Common Doha Problem

Over the weekend, Karolina was part of the Czech Republic’s stunning Fed Cup loss to Romania at home in Ostrava. She had little trouble with Mihaela Buzarnescu on Saturday, but fell in a 3-set thriller to Simona Halep on Sunday.

Katerina Siniakova kept the Quarterfinal Tie alive, defeating Buzarnescu in reverse singles. But Monica Niculescu and Irina-Camelia Begu lifted Romania to the Fed Cup Semifinals with a deciding-set win over Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova in the deciding doubles rubber.

Late Arrivals. Everyone faces Elise Mertens

Thanks to Doha’s creative scheduling (loading all but one 1st-Round match into Tuesday’s order of play), Pliskova and Siniakova arrived on Monday afternoon. Then on Tuesday, Siniakova fell to Elise Mertens. After Karolina’s withdrawal today, her twin Kristyna became this year’s 5th Lucky Loser, and fell to Mertens in a 2nd-set tiebreak on Court-1.

23 Total Withdrawals: 8 Main Draw Drop-Outs | 15 Qualifying Quitters

Last week Naomi Osaka, Madison Keys and Qiang Wang withdrew. 15 Qualifiers bailed before the start of play on Saturday. Since Qualifying began, five additional commits have withdrawn including Petra Martic, Ashleigh Barty, Caroline Wozniacki, Caroline Garcia, and now Karolina Pliskova. Crazy “memorable” week.

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[5] Kiki Bertens -08- (NED) | Round-2 Announcer Introduction

The #5-seed in this year’s draw, she comes into Doha on the heels of winning her 8th WTA Singles title. 11 days ago, she lifted the trophy in St. Petersburg; and in just the past 10-months, has won 4 Singles titles in 5 Finals, and returns to Doha with a career-high ranking of World #8. She earned 12 top-10 victories last year alone, including a remarkable Premier-5 run in Cincinnati where she bested 4 top-10 players, like World #2 Caroline Wozniacki and World #1 Simona Halep in the championship match. By season’s end, she qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time, and reached the Semifinals in her debut. Competing in her 2nd Qatar Total Open – From the Netherlands, please welcome the #8 Player in the World, Kiki Bertens.

• R2 — W | Carla Suarez Navarro -26- (ESP) | 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
• R1 — W | Camila Giorgi -28- (ITA) | Score: 0-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 | RECAP

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Carla Suarez Navarro -26- (ESP) | Round-2 Announcer Introduction

In 2016, she won the biggest title of her career right here in Doha – capturing her first Premier-5 event with wins over World #3 Agnieszka Radwanska in the Semifinals and Jelena Ostapenko in the championship match. She was unstoppable that week, winning 5 straight singles matches to earn the Falcon, AND four straight doubles matches to reach the Doubles Final with partner Sara Errani. After the victory, she climbed to a career-high Singles ranking of #6 in the World. A 3-time Olympian and Fed Cup Finalist, she’s reached the Final-8 at the Majors 7-times, including Quarterfinal runs last year at both the Australian and US Opens. Back in Doha for the 6th time – From Spain, please welcome 2016 Qatar Total Open Champion, Carla Suarez Navarro.

• R2 — L | [5] Kiki Bertens -08- (NED) | Score: 6-2, 1-6, 1-6
• R1 — W | [WC] Ons Jabeur -56- (TUN) | Score: 6-3, 6-1 | RECAP