DOHA – Ons Jabeur, Arab’s No. 1 player and eighth-seed, fought back from a break down in the third set before overcoming Tereza Martincova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to book a last-eight date with her good friend and No.4 seed Anett Kontaveit.
The 1-hour, 36-minute victory put the Tunisian into the Doha quarter-finals for a second time. In 2020, she reached the last eight of a WTA 1000 event for the first time here – and like that year, her symbiotic relationship with the Middle East crowd was on full show. Jabeur’s shotmaking repertoire had Centre Court in raptures, and her victory was greeted with extended chants and songs in celebration.
Meanwhile, Maria Sakkari defeated Jessica Pegula in 6-4, 7-5, avenging the defeat she suffered against the American a month ago at the Australian Open. Pegula opened the match better, taking a 2-0 lead. Sakkari broke back immediately after and continued applying pressure after that. With time, Sakkari found her rhythm and her confidence grew as she captured the first set.
The Greek complicated things in the 2nd set as well with Pegula again taking an early 2-0. The American once again failed to hold the lead as Sakkari battled back. Eventually, she started playing even better closing out the 2nd set.
Anett Kontaveit is through to the quarter-finals after beating Elise Mertens of Belgium in three sets 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 on Wednesday.The pair had met four times before the encounter at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha; Mertens had won three times to Kontaveit’s one.
No.14 seed Coco Gauff scripted a 6-2, 6-3 upset of No.3 seed Paula Badosa in 1 hour and 17 minutes in one of the other matches.
The result was a reversal of the pair’s only previous encounter, won by Badosa 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of Indian Wells last year en route to her second career title. With the victory, Gauff also sealed her first win over a Top 10 player since Rome 2021, where she defeated Aryna Sabalenka and Ashleigh Barty (via retirement) to reach the last eight.
No.15 seed Jelena Ostapenko also dealt out some revenge in the desert, dispatching No.2 seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour and 13 minutes. Ostapenko, equalled her career-best winning streak of eight with the victory and scored a fifth win over a Grand Slam champion in the past two weeks.
Source: Qatar Olympic Committee