Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek have made winning starts to the Qatar Open in Doha, while Emma Raducanu suffered a disappointing first-round defeat.
Osaka, a former world No. 1, ended her three-match losing streak in an impressive way as she defeated 2022 WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia 7-5 6-4 in her Doha opener.
Osaka, who lost to Garcia in straight sets at the Australian Open, didn’t start the match well as she got broken in the fifth game as the Frenchwoman led 5-3 through the opening eight games of the match. On the verge of losing the first set, Osaka impressively stormed back as she claimed back-to-back breaks in the 10th and 12th games to win four games in a row – overturn the deficit – and seal the opener.
After winning the first set, Osaka earned the first break of the second set in the 10th game – when Garcia was serving to stay in the match.
Naomi Osaka© Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
In the Doha second round, Osaka plays against Petra Martic.
Swiatek destroys Sorana Cirstea
Swiatek, the top-seeded player in Doha, also made an impressive start as she destroyed world No. 22 Cirstea 6-1 6-1.
Right from the start, Swiatek started putting pressure on Cirstea but the Romanian managed to save two break points in the second game and tie the first set to one game apiece. But not realizing two early break points didn’t stop Swiatek from putting pressure on Cirstea as the top-seeded Pole claimed back-to-back breaks in the fourth and sixth games en route to winning the next five games and winning the first set in style.
After losing the last five games of the first set, Cirstea managed to serve out the opening game of the second set. That was all from Cirstea as Swiatek claimed three breaks in a row and won the next six games to complete a dominant two-set win over the Romanian.
Iga Swiatek© Getty Images Sport – Cameron Spencer
In the Doha round-of-16, Swiatek awaits the winner of the match between Ekaterina Alexandrova and Erika Andreeva.
Raducanu bows out to Anhelina Kalinina
Raducanu, 21, was all but impressive in her Doha debut as the Briton suffered a very disappointing 0-6 6-7 (6) loss to Kalinina.
In the first set, Raducanu won a total of 10 points and didn’t have a single game point or a break point as Kalinina very easily won the opener in just 22 minutes.
Emma Raducanu© Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
In the second set, Raducanu recovered from an early break down and also saved five break points in the seventh game. Cirstea got another break in the 11th game and had a chance to serve out for the match but Raducanu saved two consecutive match points to send the match into a tie-break, where she missed out on a set point before the Ukrainian realized her third match point to seal a straight-set win.
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