Only eight remain in Doha after Wednesday’s 3rd-Round play. Agnieszka Radwanska, Garbine Muguruza, Carla Suarez Navarro and Roberta Vinci are the remaining seeds. Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki will have to wait another week to turn their seasons around.
Roberta Vinci
At the US Open in Flushing, squirrels and an occassional raccoon may interrupt play. Here in Doha, match-crashers are of the feline variety. In the final Round of 16 match on center court, Roberta Vinci and Cagla Buyukakcay were locked in a battle of service breaks. 45-minutes in, Vinci up 6-5, Buyukakcay serving, Roberta’s SET POINT was interrupted…by a cat. After a short delay, Cagla would save set-point in a ridiculous 32-shot rally. Unfortunately for Buyukakcay, the cat-distraction wasn’t enough to force a tie-break. Vinci took the set, then dominated the second: 7-5, 6-1.
NEXT: Agnieszka Radwanska
Jelena Ostapenko
Say hello to 18-year-old Jelena Ostapenko: Top-10 Slayer. Last year at Wimbledon, she defeated Suarez Navarro in the first round. Today, despite losing a hard-fought first-set (5-7), she had the poise to not just battle back, but dominate the rest of the way. Down a set and 1-2, Ostapenko would win eight consecutive games. Kvitova broke once in the 3rd, but that was all the 2-time Wimbledon Champ could muster. Jelena Ostapenko heads into the Quarterfinals in her Doha debut: 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
NEXT: SaiSai Zheng
Agnieszka Radwanska
If you want to witness strategic creativity and mind-blowing highlights, I strongly encourage you to be there for an Agnieszka Radwanska / Monica Niculescu match. Both are brilliant at mixing it up, keeping their opponents off-balance, and inducing thunderous reactions with brilliant shot-making. Today’s match didn’t disappoint. In a first set that featured six breaks of serve, Radwanska would win it on break #7 at the 56-minute mark. Up 2-1 in the second, Radwanska broke again after a 9-minute deuce battle, then shut-out Niculescu the rest of the way: 7-5, 6-1. The four-time Doha Semifinalist is back in the Quarters. Radwanska has only lost once this year, in the Australian Open Semifinals to Serena Williams. Her consistency is a rarity in a season that’s seen the top-ranked typically fall early.
NEXT: Roberta Vinci
Garbine Muguruza
“Mugu is back.” The World #5 Garbine Muguruza is back in rhythm after last week’s early loss in Dubai. Timea Babos battled in today’s second-set, holding pace with the Spaniard, but Garbine delivered a timely break at 5-all and closed it out 6-2, 7-5. Last year, Muguruza came into Doha injured and had to retire from her 1st-round match with Suarez Navarro. This year, thanks to her early exit in Dubai and solid play at Khalifa, she’s spent more time in Qatar and says she adores “the luxuries” of the city and the tournament.
NEXT: Andrea Petkovic
Carla Suarez Navarro
Wednesday’s Center Court play started with [8] Carla Suarez Navarro and [11] Timea Bacsinksy. With Carla up 3-1 in the first, the two played a 19-minute and 46-second game loaded with punishing rallies in the afternoon heat. Navarro eventually won the game on her 6th break point, then the set 6-2. Out of fuel in the second, Bacsinsky fell behind early and Navarro ran away with it, earning a spot in the Quarters: 6-2, 6-2.
NEXT: Elena Vesnina
- [3] A. Radwanska d M. Niculescu 75 61
- [4] G. Muguruza d T. Babos 62 75
- J. Ostapenko d [5] P. Kvitova 57 62 61
- [8] C. Suárez Navarro d [11] T. Bacsinszky 62 62
- [9] R. Vinci d [WC] C. Buyukakcay 75 61
- [Q] E. Vesnina d [13] C. Wozniacki 75 57 63
- S. Zheng d [WC] E. Bouchard 76(1) 61
- A. Petkovic d C. Vandeweghe 63 64
RESULTS. Qatar Total Open 2016. Day Four. 2nd-Round Doubles.
- K. Bondarenko / O. Savchuk d [3] C. Garcia / K. Mladenovic 64 64
- [4] H. Chan / Y. Chan d [PR] C. Chan / K. Marosi 62 61
- [6] T. Babos / J. Goerges d [WC] P. Kvitova / B. Strycova walkover
- [PR] G. Dabrowski / M. Martínez Sánchez d [7] R. Atawo / A. Spears 76(4) 61
- D. Kasatkina / E. Vesnina d [8] A. Klepac / K. Srebotnik 64 64
- S. Errani / C. Suárez Navarro d M. Gasparyan / M. Niculescu 36 62 10-7
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