Coco Gauff fell on the first hurdle for a second straight 12 months in Qatar. Photograph: AFP
DOHA:
Coco Gauff suffered a shock second-round exit from the WTA 1000 occasion in Doha on Tuesday, dropping in straight units to Italian fortunate loser Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
The fourth seed, who was crushed 6-4, 6-2, was adopted out of the Qatar Open by sixth seed Jasmine Paolini and eighth-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova.
There have been no such issues for Iga Swiatek or Elena Rybakina, although, as the highest seed and newly-crowned Australian Open champion each cruised into the final 16.
American Gauff, who acquired a first-round bye, was additionally knocked out of the match in her opening match final 12 months.
Cocciaretto will face Ann Li within the subsequent spherical after solely the third victory of her profession in opposition to a top-10 ranked opponent.
The world quantity 57 stated she was impressed by her buddy and skier Sofia Goggia, who took bronze within the girls’s downhill occasion on the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on the weekend.
“We at all times ship messages and FaceTime to speak about our sports activities and the way you handle some issues,” she stated of Goggia. “She provides me lots of recommendation…
“I really like how they (skiers) strategy the game. They’ve concern of nothing. They’re targeted quite a bit and so they put themselves after the whole lot.”
Former world quantity three Maria Sakkari noticed off Paolini, additionally 6-4, 6-2, to arrange a last-16 tie with Varvara Gracheva.
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was one other 6-4, 6-2 winner over Alexandrova.
Swiatek dropped simply eight factors within the first set as she brushed apart Indonesia’s Janice Tjen 6-0, 6-3 in her first match since dropping within the Australian Open final eight to Rybakina.
The six-time Grand Slam winner will play Daria Kasatkina for a spot within the quarter-finals.
She has received her final six conferences with the Russian-born Australian with out dropping a set.
“She will come to the match feeling that she has nothing to lose,” stated Swiatek of going through Kasatkina.
“There are other ways the match can go, and I would not say that specializing in the final outcomes provides quite a bit. I would somewhat keep prepared for the problem and probably not take into consideration the earlier ones.”
Rybakina continued her wonderful type with a 6-2, 6-4 success in opposition to Wang Xinyu and can subsequent face one other Chinese language participant in Zheng Qinwen.
World quantity three Rybakina has not performed Zheng since a group-stage loss on the 2024 WTA Finals.
Australian Open semi-finalist Elina Svitolina and rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko additionally reached the third spherical.
Fritz, Korda set for Dallas conflict
High-seeded Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda each received all-U.S. matchups on Wednesday, placing them in line for a quarterfinal conflict on the Nexo Dallas Open.
Fritz downed Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-4 in second-round motion, and Korda topped eighth-seeded Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-1. Fritz owns a 3-1 profession edge in conferences with Korda, together with a win of their most up-to-date matchup final 12 months in Tokyo.
Third-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain additionally moved into the quarterfinals, beating america’ Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-4.
The conclusion of the primary spherical additionally featured two all-U.S. showdowns. Fifth-seeded Tommy Paul overtook Jenson Brooksby 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), and Ethan Quinn nipped Trevor Svajda, a 19-year-old SMU participant who acquired a wild-card entry, 7-6 (3), 7-5.
France’s Adrian Mannarino topped Australia’s Adam Walton 6-4, 6-2 within the final first-round match.
