WTA Doha: Ailing Azarenka beats Svitolina, Muguruza and Pegula with gala performances
The two top seeded players were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 tournament in Doha. BothElina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova had no chance in the round of the last eight.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Mar 04, 2021, 07:22 pm
Playing against an injured opponent is always difficult. This phrase should prove to be true once again in the quarter-finals of the WTA 500 event in Doha between Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka. Due to back problems, the Belarusian could not serve with full power during the entire match, and she also had problems with runs into the corner.
Svitolina, who was number one in the capital of Qatar, did not know how to take advantage of her opponent's injury and only won six games in the entire game. In the end there was a clear 6: 2 and 6: 4 success for Azarenka.
Muguruza still in top form
Should the 31-year-old recover by Friday, she would face Garbine Muguruza in the semifinals. In her quarter-final match with Maria Sakkari, the Spaniard seamlessly continued her terrific performances of the current season and clearly prevailed 6: 3 and 6: 1.
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Jessica Pegula had already delivered a similar gala performance as Muguruza. The American gave the number two of the tournament, Karolina Pliskova, no chance at all in her 6: 3 and 6: 1 victory. In the semifinals, the 27-year-old meets Petra Kvitova, who defeated Anett Kontaveit in three sets.