Alexandrova stuns World No.1 Sabalenka, Kostyuk beats Gauff on Day Three

Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia on Tuesday survived a late onslaught to beat top seed and world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on day three of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open.
Alexandrova won 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in two hours and 36 minutes at the Centre Court of the Khalifa International Tennis Complex.
A long return by Sabalenka on third match point gave Alexandrova her fourth win over her superior rival over eight matches on the Tour.
Fresh off her fifth WTA title in Linz last week, Alexandrova arrived in Doha in strong form.
The tournament’s best fan turnout on Tuesday saw Alexandrova take out another Grand Slam winner after her win over Emma Raducanu on Sunday.
Sabalenka was playing her first match since her three-set loss to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final in January.
“This victory took a lot of energy and focus. It was difficult match as she is a great player,” Alexandrova said after her match. “I just tried to do my best on the court. You can’t do any more than that. I am glad I won because it feels amazing now,” she added with a smile.
“The atmosphere was so electric, thanks to the fans. It was great to play tonight in front of these amazing fans. I hope I enough energy (today). I will try to do the same thing that I did today,” Alexandrova added.
Despite dropping the first set, Alexandrova fought back fiercely, refusing to let her streak end without a struggle.
She twice recovered from a break down in the third set, twice held serve to stay in the match, and ultimately secured her second career win against a world number one in under a year.
Also on Tuesday, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine stunned the No 3-seeded Coco Gauff of the US with a dominant 6-2, 7-5 victory.
The 22-year-old from Ukraine will play a third-round match against Magda Linette of Poland.
Serving to reach a second-set tiebreak, an error-prone Gauff committed back-to-back double faults, her sixth and seventh of the match, to give Kostyuk two match points. She converted the second when Gauff’s backhand found the net.
Kostyuk had lost all three previous matches to Gauff on hard courts; Gauff was the highest-ranked player she’s ever beaten on this surface.
“Coco is an incredible fighter,” Kostyuk said in her on-court interview. “We always have incredible matches. I tried to stick to what I had to do. I’m very happy it worked out in two sets.”
Gauff finished with 39 unforced errors and only eight winners, marking her third straight loss in Doha. She fell in her opener last year to Katerina Siniakova and exited in the quarter-finals in 2022 and 2023. Still, heading into her second-round match against Kostyuk, the 20-year-old American had won 17 straight against opponents ranked outside the Top 20.
Kostyuk, currently No. 21 in the PIF WTA Rankings, isn’t a classic Top 20 outsider. She began her career by losing 14 straight matches against Top 10 players - she’s 9-6 since. She has steadily risen through the ranks. She saw her ranking soar as high as No 16 last year and finished at No 18. Kostyuk, a two-time finalist last year, has created all kinds of expectations and this win certainly will whet appetites for even more.
The first set was a microcosm of Gauff’s occasional struggles in the opening set. She won fewer than half her first-serve points and was broken three times.
There were three double faults and 19 unforced errors, most of them on the forehand side.
Gauff came out for the second set with greater intensity - and accuracy. Her serve was better and her groundstrokes more precise. She broke Kostyuk in the third game and saved two set points at 3-2 to maintain that margin.
But more errors from Gauff allowed Kostyuk to break through to level that match at 4-all. It stayed that way until Kostyuk broke through at the end.
Top 10 seeds Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina both swept past dangerous opponents in straight sets to reach the last 16 of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open.
No 4 Paolini came from a break down in the second set to defeat French wild card Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour and 12 minutes. “I started the match really well. I had a little bit of issues closing the match, but overall happy that I managed to win in two sets and get through another round,” Rybakina said.
She was followed on Grandstand 1 on Tuesday by No 5 Rybakina, who held off a late charge by Peyton Stearns of the US to come through 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour and 13 minutes.
Linda Noskova, a rising star from the Czech Republic, defeated Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the last 16, where she will face three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek.
Jabeur crushes ZhengOns Jabeur, the Tunisian superstar, on Tuesday continued her strong performance with a dominant 6-4, 6-2 victory over No 7 Zheng Qinwen, securing her place in the Round of 16.
Tuesday’s dominant win followed her 6-2, 6-0 victory against McCartney Kessler on Monday.
“Yes, definitely a great win today. I’m pretty happy with my level. It was very tough playing against her like always, but I’m glad that I got my win,” Jabeur said on Tuesday .

Qatar TotalEnergies Open Results
E Alexandrova (RUS) bt A Sabalenka (BLR x 1) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)
E Mertens (BEL) bt C Bucsa (ESP) 6-2, 6-3
J Pegula (USA x6) bt E Svitolina (UKR) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3)
M Kostyuk (UKR) bt C Gauff (USA x3) 6-2, 7-5
O Jabeur (TUN) bt Z Qinwen (CHN x7) 6-4, 6-2
S Kenin (USA) bt A Parks (USA) 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-2
J Ostapenko (LAT) bt L Samsonova (RUS x16) 7-6 (7/5), 7-5
J Paolini (ITA x4) bt C Garcia (FRA) 6-3, 6-4
E Rybakina (KAZ x5) bt P Stearns (USA) 6-2, 6-4
R Sramkova (SVK) bt M Andreeva (RUS x12) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
L Noskova (CZE) bt Y Putintseva (KAZ) 6-2, 6-3
A Anisimova (USA) bt P Badosa (ESP x9) 6-4, 6-3