Russia’s Tereza Martincova defeated Ukrainian 10th seed Elina Svitolina 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-6 (5) in a nearly three-hour match Monday in the first round of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha.
Svitolina converted nine of 10 break-point opportunities and saved 12 of 22, but Martincova had seven aces and wound up winning nine more points in a 251-point epic.
American teen Coco Gauff, the 14th seed, beat countrywoman Shelby Rogers 6-2, 6-3. Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian knocked off 11th seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3, and Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann beat German 13th seed Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Other first-round winners included Latvian No. 15 seed Jelena Ostapenko and Belgian No. 16 seed Elise Mertens.
Two seeded players who opened with byes won their second-round matches Monday. Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit, the No. 4 seed, beat Ana Konjuh of Croatia 6-2, 6-3, and Spanish No. 5 seed Garbine Muguruza took down Sorana Cirstea of Romania 7-6 (4), 6-1. In a matchup of unseeded players, France’s Caroline Garcia knocked off former world No. 1 Simona Halep of Romania 6-4, 6-3.
–Field Level Media