Just imagine your world no one and world no three being knocked out in the second round of tennis; hard to imagine, right? Well, that’s what happened in the Qatar Open, as Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka were knocked out.
Interestingly, both Gauff and Sabalenka had the ball in their court to win but couldn’t hit the final nail in the coffin.
Ekaterina Alexandrova beat Sabalenka, while Marta Kostyuk defeated Coco Gauff to make history. Let’s dissect it down deeply.
Game Summary of Ekaterina Alexandrova Beating Aryna Sabalenka
Sabalenka and Gauff knocked out might be the big story, but let’s talk about how things panned out for Aryna Sabalenka.
In case you are wondering, Aryna is the world’s number 1 tennis player at the moment. On the other hand, Alexandrova is the world’s number 26 player. It was a tightly fought contest between the two.
In the end, Ekaterina won the game by the margin of 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. According to Skysports, Sabalenka was playing her first match after her defeat in the Australian Open final last month.
The win wasn’t easy for Alexandrova as she had to come from break down twice and also hold service twice in a match that went for 2 hours and 36 minutes. It was a physically and mentally challenging game.
After the win, Ekaterina will be playing her top-16 clash against the likes of Elise Mertens. Alexandrova needs to play well to get over Mertens.
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Match Summary of Marta Kostyuk Defeating Coco Gauff
More than the Sabalenka defeat, it was the Coco Gauff defeat that was doing the runs. The 21-ranked Marta went on to defeat Coco in straight sets without much of the fight, which was surprising for many.
The WTA 1000 had its fair share of surprises, and it was the same with Kostyuk beating Coco. Marta won the game in just two sets with the scoreline of 6-2 and 7-5.
Being a fan of how Coco Gauff plays, losing with such ease without even giving the basic fight is something that will surprise a lot of tennis fans. The Ukrainian was behind 3-1, but she came back to put through straight wins.
Unlike Aryna’s, this Coco Gauff clash with Marta Kostyuk lasted only 1 hour and 13 minutes, enough to say there was no fight at all.
In total, the 2023 US Champion had seven double faults and 39 unforced errors, with only eight winners. Such gameplay was rare for Gauff.
This was the first instance when Coco Gauff lost to someone who was ranked outside of 20. All of her last 17 matches against people who ranked outside of 20 were won by her.
Following this win and major applause, Marta Kostyuk will be playing against either Magda Linette or Magdalena Frech in the game of 16.
Other Results at WTA 100 Qatar
Elena Rybakina, who is the former Wimbledon Champion, went on to defeat Peyto Stearns by the margin of 6-2 and 6-4.
On the other end, Jasmine Paolini beat Caroline Garcia by the margin of 6-3, 6-4 by playing to her potential.
Ons Jabeur, a time grand slam finalist, defeated the likes of Qinwen Zheng to play the game against Sofia Kenin. Even though Ons was struggling through injury, he went on to finish the game.
Other winners include Rebecca Sramkova, who beat Mirra Andreeva, while Jessica Pegula won easily against Elina Svitolina.
Lastly, Linda Noskova beat Yulia Putintseva in order to play the three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek.
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