There was drama in the aftermath of Elena Rybakina's victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Qatar Open semifinal in Doha.
Rybakina picked up her eighth straight win of this year's Middle East swing to reach her third final of the season with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 win over a resurgent Pavlyuchenkova. She stumbled towards the finish line, but the Kazakh got there in the end after needing two bites of the cherry.
The third seed will now face defending champion Iga Swiatek in Saturday's final. The Pole benefitted from a walkover in the semis after former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova withdrew due to injury. Swiatek will look to overturn her recent losing record against Rybakina as she bids to accomplish a rare three-peat.
After the match, Rybakina took a few questions during the on-court interview and enjoyed a customary lap of honor from those watching in the stands. She was then handed a few tennis balls, which she personally signed, and with one swing, unleashed each to the crowd.
One exuberant gentleman was not going to leave the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex without a memento of an autographed tennis ball from the World No.4. He risked injury by jumping from one corridor to another so that he would catch it, but totally miscalculated his leap.
It was a nasty fall, but one that generated gales of laughter amongst tennis fans on social media. The fan was certainly committed to the cause, but it would emerge that the tournament was actually running a fan competition called "Catch, Win, Enjoy," as advertised on Instagram.
Each signed ball had a specific code that every fan who managed to catch it would swap for prizes in the form of an iPad, iPhone 15, or Apple Watch. It was clear from that shocking fall of this fan's motive. It wasn't just a souvenir he was after. You can check the incident unfold in the video below.
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