World No. 1 Sabalenka eliminated from Qatar Open.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a surprising second-round exit at the Qatar Open on Tuesday, falling to Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) in a tense battle lasting over two and a half hours.
Playing her first match since her Australian Open final loss to Madison Keys in January, Sabalenka was unable to overcome the in-form Alexandrova, who recently secured her fifth WTA title in Linz.
The match featured an unexpected interruption when a curious cat briefly took center stage at courtside during the second set, but Alexandrova remained focused, rallying from a set down to claim victory in a tight tiebreak.
Sabalenka was returning to the Qatar Open for the first time since 2022, having won the title in 2020 at the season’s first WTA 1000 event. Alexandrova now moves on to face Belgium’s Elise Mertens in the last 16.
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff also suffered an early exit, losing in straight sets to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
