His Highness witnesses part of the opening of the Qatar Total Open Women’s Tennis Championship
His Highness, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the country, witnessed part of the inaugural day of the Qatar Total Open Tennis Championship for Women 2021 in its nineteenth edition, which was held at the stadiums of the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
His Highness the Prince followed the match between Spanish player Garbini Muguruza, ranked 15th in the world, and Russian player Veronica Kodermetova, ranked 26th, in the framework of the third round matches, which ended in the interest of the first with two clean sets of sets (6-2 and 7-6).
The match was attended by a number of Their Excellencies, senior officials, guests of the tournament, and a crowd of tennis fans, amid precautionary measures to limit the spread of the new Corona virus (Covid-19).
Unexpected surprises
The competitions on the first day of the main round of the tournament witnessed excitement and surprises in its results, perhaps the most prominent of which was the exit of the Dutch fifth seed, Kiki Bertens, after losing to Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (6-0, 6-2).
Surprises continued with the exit of American Jennifer Brady, ranked 13 in the world, ahead of Estonian Annette Kontafit, ranked 24th in the world, in two groups without a response (6 – 1 and 6 – 2).
Spanish Garbigny Muguruza cut the tape of her matches at the Doha Open, with a difficult victory over the young Russian Veronica Kodermetova in two sets without a response.
The Czech doubles qualified
The Czech duo, consisting of Barbora Kryzhikova and Katrina Senyakova, qualified for the quarter-finals after defeating the Chinese duo, consisting of Saisay Cheng and Lin Zhu, in two sets against a group by sets (5-7, 6-3, 10-3).
The Czech duo, the number one in the tournament, will meet in the next round, with the winning duo of the Dutch match between Kiki Bertens and her teammate Leslie Patinama Kerkov with the Turkish duo of Chagla Buyukakachai and her Russian colleague Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The duo consisting of Slovenian Andrea Klebak and Indian Sania Mirza also qualified for the quarter-finals after defeating the Ukrainian duo consisting of sisters Lyudmila Kitchinuk and Nadia Kitchinuk in two sets against a group by games (6 – 4, 6 – 7, 10 – 5).
Andrea and Sanya will play in the next round with the winning duo of the Czech duo of Lucy Hradika and her colleague Christina Pliskova, with the duo consisting of Russian Anna Blinkova and Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski.
Nasser Al-Khulaifi: The presence of His Highness supports the game of tennis
His Excellency Nasser Al-Khulaifi, President of the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation and Chairman of the Supreme Organizing Committee, affirmed that His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the country, may God protect him, for the Qatar Total Championship represents support from the wise leadership of the tennis game and a great incentive for the organizing committee and all employees In the championship to continue the effort and effort to get the championship in the honorable form it receives annually.
Al-Khulaifi said: “The competition pattern started very strong with the start of the tournament and we expect it to be more exciting and enthusiastic, especially with the start of the participation of the four ranked players in the world in the second round after the lottery avoided them from playing the first round matches. ».
He expressed his support for the two Arab players, Anas Jaber and Mayar Sharif, as representatives of Arab tennis in the tournament .. stressing that the federation will continue to provide all facilities to Arab players in order to improve their standards and classification.
Elena Svitolina: I love playing in Doha
Ukrainian Elena Svitolina, ranked fifth at the world level and first in the Qatar Total Tennis Championships, said that she always loves to play in Doha, and she said, “It gives me an extra motivation … and this year looks different because the ground of the field was somewhat different as it was prepared to fit the preliminary rounds of the Australian Open tennis tournament.” But I am happy to be here as I love the Qatar Total Tennis Open Cup and I feel sad that I was not able to include it in my collection of beautiful cups.
Kaiki: I miss the match layout
Dutch Kiki Bertens denied that she was affected by the surgery she underwent in the Achilles tendon during the last period, following her defeat at the hands of Latvian Jelena Ostapenko. “I think my feet were fine in today’s match and I was not affected by the surgery at all, but I still missed the match pattern,” she said.
“Yelena was performing strongly, while my performance was not good as the competition player dominated the match.” And about her next step, the player said, “Well, I will compete in doubles here, so I am happy to go to another match in Doha, and I continue my preparations in the best possible way on the training grounds.” Ahead of my Dubai Championship next week.
Tariq Zainal: Qatar supports Arab players
Tariq Zainal, Secretary-General of the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation, said: The Qatari Federation for the Game greatly supports the Arab players in the tournament, and said we wish all success to the Tunisian Anas Jaber, and the Egyptian Mayar Sharif, who was invited to participate in the tournament.
The General Coordinator of the Qatar Total Open for Women Tennis added that the medical bubble was applied to all participants, as well as the referees and all participants, for the sake of the safety of everyone and to avoid any problems that may occur in the tournament, stressing that everyone underwent a medical examination and there will be second and repeated examinations.
He said that 9 out of 10 players were supposed to participate in the best ranks in the world, but unfortunately, there were some apologies, and it is enough that there are 5 players ranked in the world under the current circumstances.
Saad Al-Mohannadi: We seek to bring the championship to safety
Saad Al-Mohannadi, Director of the Qatar Total Open Tennis Championship, affirmed that the presence of His Highness the Emir, may God protect him, to follow the matches on the first days of the tournament is a medal on our chests and we are proud to honor the complex. To follow the matches.
He added that the success of the tournament for them is that it ends in peace and goes out to safety without any problems or injuries, and he said that we are proud to offer a helping hand to the Arab players in this tournament through the invitation of Mayar Sharif and the presence of Tunisian Anas Jaber, whose level has greatly improved in recent years.
Qatari and Duty Free sponsored the women’s tennis tournament
Qatar Airways and Qatar Free Market have confirmed their sponsorship of the Qatar Total Women’s Tennis Championship 2021, which is currently being held at the Khalifa Complex for Tennis and Squash. On the occasion of the sponsorship contract, Salam Al Shawwa, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Media at Qatar Airways said: “Tennis is a sport One of the most important sports on the calendar of sporting events in the State of Qatar, and we always look forward to welcoming international sports stars to Doha. The sport of women’s tennis is an integral part of the global sports sponsorship portfolio of Qatar Airways, which aims to enhance the role played by the State of Qatar as a center for sports at the regional and global level.
Thabet Musleh, Vice President of Operations at Qatar Free Market, said: “The Qatar Duty Free has been keen to sponsor the Qatar Total Women’s Tennis Championship since 2012, and we are proud to be once again a key partner for one of the most important annual global sporting events that are held here.
In Doha ».
Ooredoo is the silver sponsor of Qatar Total
Ooredoo announced that it will be the silver sponsor of the Qatar Total Open for Women 2021 in its nineteenth edition, with the participation of 5 players from the top ten in the world, 32 players competing for the singles title, while 16 teams will participate in doubles competitions.
Sabah Rabia Al Kuwari, Director of Public Relations at Ooredoo, said: “We are pleased to sponsor this world championship once again, which comes within the company’s strategy for social responsibility in supporting events that encourage exercise and maintain health.
Anas Jaber faces Russian Peshkova
Today, the singles major-round competitions will resume, with American Madison Keys playing with Swiss Belinda Bencic, and Chinese Sisay Cheng with American Amanda Anisimova, and Tunisian Ons Jaber will face a difficult confrontation in front of Czech Karolina Peshkova, and Spain’s Christina Boca will play with Czech Christina Pliskova, and German Laura Siegmund with Ukrainian to Sia Tsurenko, Chinese to Ching Sisai with Japanese to Misaki Doi, and Chinese to Wang Kiang with American Jessica Bigla.
Carolina Peshkov: Happy to be back in Qatar
Czech Karolina Peshkov expressed her happiness to return to Doha and to participate in the Qatar Total Open Tennis Championship, especially after winning her title before, and for her confrontation with Tunisian Anas Jaber, Peshkov said, “She is a strong player, especially here, and I don’t know if a number of fans will be allowed or not. Last year, I found it difficult to confront it. The crowd was just loud. ”
About her participation in the Australian Open tennis tournament and her impressions about the new season, Pleshkova said, “I don’t really want to talk about the future or the past because we can’t do anything about what’s going on, so my focus is now on the present, and I’m trying to run as many tournaments and matches as I can because I feel like I am.” I miss the tournament format. ”
Arena Sabalenka: Doha is the best
The Belarusian Arena Sabalenka praised the Qatar Total Women Open Tennis Championship, and said I am really happy to be here, as it is one of my favorite tournaments, and she said the wind looks a bit strong and the atmosphere is cold .. Doha is distinguished by its wonderful courts and beautiful atmosphere, as is the case last year, and I am happy to have obtained “I have the opportunity to be here again, as I would like to play a number of matches and fight for the title, and to maintain the title, but I feel as if there is nothing to lose and that is why I will try to do everything in my power.”
Loss of Mayar Sharif
The Greek player, Maria Scary, ranked 25 in the world, qualified for the final round after defeating Egyptian Mayar Sherif, ranked 114th in the world, and participating in an invitation card, in two consecutive groups (6 – 0, 6 – 3). German player Angelique Kerber, the 26th world champion and runner-up to the Qatar Championship in 2014, was able to qualify for the final round as well, after defeating her Turkish rival, Cagla Buyukakacay, ranked 179 in the world, and participating in an invitation card, in two consecutive groups. The Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, ranked fourteenth in the world and eighth in the tournament, was the last to qualify for the quarter-finals after her difficult victory over her Russian opponent, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in two clean sets (6-2, 6-3).
