WTA Doha: Brady and Bertens already out, Azarenka and Muguruza sovereign
The first day of the WTA 500 tournament in Doha brought two surprises:Jennifer Brady and Kiki Bertens had to admit defeat at the beginning. Otherwise, the favorites held themselves harmless.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Mar 01, 2021, 07:44 pm
For the first time since the Australian Open in Melbourne, most of the world's best tennis players are playing in Doha. Jennifer Brady was the finalist of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year on the first day of the main draw. The American had to admit defeat to Anett Kontaveit with 1: 6 and 2: 6.
The world number 11 Kiki Bertens even had less chance. The Dutch woman, who canceled the Australian Open due to an operation on the Achilles tendon , lost against the former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko with 0: 6 and 2: 6.
The rest of the favorites fared much better in the capital of Qatar: Victoria Azarenka (6: 2 and 6: 3 vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova), Maria Sakkari (6: 0 and 6: 3 vs. Mayar Sherif) and Garbine Muguruzua (6 : 2 and 7: 6 (4) vs. Veronika Kudermetova) all remained without losing a set.
That was also achieved by the German Angelique Kerber, who prevailed against the Turkish Cagla Buyukakcay 6: 4 and 6: 2 . The three-time Grand Slam winner now faces Brady conqueror Kontaveit in round two.