Puig Fights Back to Overcome Kasatkina, Makes Doha Semifinal
Monica Puig advanced to her first semifinal since her historic gold medal run at Rio after coming from a set down to beat Russian teenager Daria Kasatkina.
Monica Puig advanced to her first semifinal since her historic gold medal run at Rio after coming from a set down to beat Russian teenager Daria Kasatkina.
Daria Kasatkina takes on Angelique Kerber in the second round of the Qatar Total Open.
No.3 seed Dominika Cibulkova celebrated her 400th career match win in style, surviving nemesis Samantha Stosur to reach the final four at the Qatar Total Open.
Dominika Cibulkova takes on Samantha Stosur in the second round of the Qatar Total Open.
DOHA, Qatar: Former World No.1 Angelique Kerber admitted that she did not play well in her defeat to Daria Kasatkina in the Qatar Total Open – but was quick to pay tribute to her young opponent.
The top seed for the tournament was ousted 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 by the Russian teenager, who also knocked her out of the Apia International in Sydney in January.
“I was not feeling the best today – I’m trying to find my rhythm,” the 29-year-old said in her post-match press conference.
“But she [Kasatkina] plays good. I make too many mistakes in the important moments. I think it was, for sure, not my day.”
.@DKasatkina is having a stormer in the deciding set! #Qatar_Total_Open pic.twitter.com/3o2rUZe5CE
— WTA (@WTA) February 16, 2017
Kerber was let down by a proliferation of unforced errors in her 4-6, 6-0, 4-6 loss, but refused to blame it on the Doha rain delays affecting her concentration.
“Of course, the weather, it can happen like this,” she said. “I think this is not a big deal. Of course, we have to wait a lot, but yeah, this is not a big deal, I think, for us players.”
The German now turns her attention to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which begins on February 19.
“First of all, I have to get ready again and feeling good because, yeah, I was not feeling very good in the last few days,” she admitted. “I think this is the most important thing for me right now. Then, of course, looking forward to the next week [in Dubai].”
An interview with Caroline Wozniacki after her victory in the second round of the Qatar Total Open.
Karolina Pliskova swatted aside Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-4 to secure her place in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.
An interview with Daria Kasatkina after her victory in the second round of the Qatar Total Open.
Caroline Wozniacki pulled off a stunning straight-sets victory over fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska to reach the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her victory in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.