World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka Stunned In Doha On Day Of Big Upsets
News
Aryna Sabalenka lost already in the first match of the 2025 Qatar Open in Doha to an inspired Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Sabalenka last played at the Australian Open. She reached the final and was on an eleven-match winning streak when Madison Keys beat her to claim her maiden Grand Slam trophy.
Since then, the Belarusian player has rested and prepared for the series of WTA 1000 tournaments in the Middle East and in the United States. The first of those was the Qatar Open, but Sabalenka surprised when she declared ahead of the event that she saw it only as a preparation.
With the packed schedule, the World No. 1 player felt like she didn't have enough time to recover and prepare for the tournament in Doha, and that showed in her first match.
Her second-round opponent, Ekaterina Alexandrova, already had one match under her belt. The Russian player bested Emma Raducanu in the first round to set up her eighth meeting against Sabalenka.
These two players first met in 2017, and since then, Sabalenka has won four matches while Alexandrova triumphed three times, showing that very little separates them. That was the case also in this match.
However, early on, it looked like the top seed had it completely under control. Sabalenka was the better player in the first set of this match despite facing a total of seven break points.
She saved all of them, winning all the crucial points. Thanks to converting one of only two break points that the Belarusian player had, she was able to win the first set of this match 6-3.
The three-time Grand Slam champion didn't start the second set well, falling behind 0-2, but she quickly erased that deficit, leveling the score at 2-2 in the second set.
At 2-2, Sabalenka had a break point, leading 40-30. It was at that moment that a cat suddenly appeared on the court. The Belarusian player found it funny, but that was probably the last time a smile was seen on her face in this match.
She didn't convert the break point, and quickly after, Alexandrova broke Sabalenka's serve. The Russian player handled the remainder of the set much better, winning it 6-3 to force a decider.
Although it was a cat that appeared on the court, the third set was a proper dogfight. Sabalenka went up by a break twice. She first led 2-0, and then also 4-2. But on both occasions, her opponent tied the score, first at 2-2 and then at 4-4.
After nothing could separate the two players, a tie-break had to decide the third set and also this match. From the moment the first ball was hit in the tie-break, Alexandrova controlled it.
She had three match points at 6-3 with two balls in her hand. Although she couldn't convert any of those on her serve, she was able to win a point on Sabalenka's serve to win the match 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), and stun the World No. 1 player.
It was another big upset on Tuesday in Doha after Coco Gauff previously lost to Marta Kostyuk. That means already after the second day of the second-round action, two out of the top three seeded players are out of the tournament.
