Blockbuster on cards as stars battle for Qatar title

By Sahan BidappaDohaIt’s going to be a blockbuster week of tennis in Doha as nine of the top10 women’s tennis stars have assembled in Doha for the Qatar TotalOpen. “There will be no easy matches here,” the 20-year-old rising starDaria Kasatkina declared yesterday after the draw ceremony. While theRussian World No. 23 could afford a smile after she drew a qualifier inthe first round, she knows the challenges that lie ahead of her.The stellar field includes new world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, fresh offafter winning her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open lastmonth. While the top seed received a first round bye, so did the otherseven seeds, Wozniacki finds herself in the same quarter as AngeliqueKerber and Maria Sharapova of a stacked draw.Denmark’s Wozniacki is set to face Sharapova in round of 16, if thelatter wins her first two matches. Sharapova will begin her campaignagainst a qualifier. For the first time in years, five-time Grand Slamchampion Sharapova is competing throughout the Middle East swing aftershe received wildcards for both the Qatar Total Open and Dubai event,which will begin from February 18. This is the Russian’s fourthappearance in Doha, having won the title back in 2005 and 2008.Kerber, who has been in fine form as well having won in Sydney andreached the Australian Open semi-finals, could face big-serving SamStosur or Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round with world no. 11Johanna Konta or 2016 Doha champion Carla Suarez Navarro projectedthird-round opponent. Kerber routed Sharapova at the Australian Open andalso has a better record against Wozniacki and will be eager to asserther dominance.Defending champion Karolina Pliskova, meanwhile is seeded fifth, and aswould likely face 2014 winner Simona Halep in the quarters.However, there has been a question mark over the availability of Halep,who is struggling to recover from an ankle injury that she picked up inher Australian Open final loss to Wozniacki.Romanian pulled out of weekend’s Fed Cup and has arrived in Doha, andwill be hoping to recover in time for her second round match againstEkaterina Makarova or Zhang Shuai after a first-round bye.Pliskova, who also skipped Fed Cup for Czech Republic, will face AnettKontaveit or Alize Cornet in her first match, with Madison Keys (shouldshe get through Wang Qiang in the first round) a potential third-roundopponent.Kasatkina, who beat Wozniacki in the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy lastweek, could be Pliskova’s last 16 opponent. Kasatkina had a poor startto the season and was also knocked out in the second round at theAustralian Open. But a run to the semi-finals in her home country haslifted her spirits and is keen to square up against big guns in Doha.“The beginning of the season was not that good for me. But I did well inSt. Petersburg, where I reached the semi-finals. I have been hittingthe ball well and my confidence is better now,” Kasatkina said afterlast night’s draw ceremony.“Of course it’s a very strong tournament. The best players in thewomen’s tour are here. It’s one of the best tournaments we have. Thereis no easy opponent here. I am happy that I am here. It’s my third timehere and I am really looking forward to playing here,” the 20-year-oldRussian added.In a tournament that is hard to predict, third seed Elina Svitolina isthe one to watch out for. The Ukrainian won three Premier-5 titles in2017 and has already pocketed one this year in Brisbane. On her day,Svitolina can beat anyone and has a fairly decent draw here.Having received a first round bye, she will be up against YuliaPutintseva or a qualifier. She could face Petra Kvitova, the StPetersburg champion, in the third round and a potential quarter-finalwith French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who is seeded sixth. The20-year-old Ostapenko, a finalist in Doha in 2016, has not been in bestof form and will face Lesia Tsurenko or Mihaela Buzarnescu in the secondround.Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, who has reunited with coachConchita Martinez, has a fairly good draw. The Spaniard will facewildcard Ons Jabeur of Tunisia or a qualifier in the second round.Frenchwomen Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic are Muguruza’spotential rivals in last 16. Garcia has a very tough opener againsteither Dominika Cibulkova or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.Mladenovic will face either Elena Vesnina or Peng Shuai in her firstmatch. Vesnina, who is also in the doubles field with her Russian mateEkaterina Makarova, can spring a surprise on her day. But the key forher will be to manage her workload.“Playing both the singles and doubles can be really tough. When you playone match a day its fine, but when you have two matches a days it’s noteasy. You need to recover and be ready for the next game,” Vesninasaid.“I am playing doubles this week with Ekaterina Makarova so we will seehow it goes. It’s a strong tournament. It’s would be an honour to winthe tournament. That’s why I am going to try my luck in both singles anddoubles, why not?”  she added.Vesnina, world No. 23 in singles and no. 3 doubles, is one of the topplayers to play both. “Only few players in the top 10 doubles and top 20singles can do that now (play both singles and doubles). It makes mefeel special, it makes me feel I am in good shape as well. It’s really astrong tournament. I am looking forward to play here. It’s a veryprestigious event, big history and big players are here. It would begreat to win this title. One of my goals definitely,” the Russian saidOsaka wins qualifying openerBy Sports Reporter/DohaJapan’s Naomi Osaka got her qualifying campaign underway at the QatarTotal Open with a solid 6-3, 6-4 win over Lu Jing-jing of Chinayesterday.American Catherine Bellis was even more impressive, powering to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Mubaraka al-Naimi in just 38 minutes.Marketa Vondrousova also secured a straight-sets win, beating SabineLisicki 6-1, 6-3. The Czech will next face Kristina Kucova, who shockedOcéane Dodin 6-4, 6-1.Meanwhile, Vera Zvonareva beat Hsieh Su-Wei 6-4, 6-4; and 18-year-oldSofya Zhuk sprang a surprise on Francesca Schiavone, triumphing 6-3,6-2.Qualifying Singles Results First Round: [1] C. Bellis (USA) d [WC] Mubaraka al-Naimi (QAT) 6-0 6-0;[2] N. Osaka (JPN) d J. Lu (CHN) 6-3 6-4; [3] M. Vondrousova (CZE) d[WC] S. Lisicki (GER) 6-1 6-3; V. Zvonareva (RUS) d [4] S. Hsieh (TPE)6-4 6-4; [5] C. Mchale (USA) d [WC] A. Vasylyeva (UKR) 6-3 6-0; [6] K.Bondarenko (UKR) d S. Karatantcheva (BUL) 6-3 4-6 6-3; [7] E.Alexandrova (RUS) d Ar. Rodionova (AUS) 6-4 7-5; [8] M. Niculescu (ROU) dR. Ozaki (JPN) 6-1 6-0; S. Zhuk (RUS) d [9] F. Schiavone (ITA) 6-3 6-2;K. Kucova (SVK) d [10] O. Dodin (FRA) 6-4 6-1; [11] Y. Duan (CHN) d B.Krejcikova (CZE) 7-6(3) 6-4; [12] A. Petkovic (GER) d X. Han (CHN) 6-36-1; [13] S. Sorribes Tormo (ESP) d N. Broady (GBR) 6-4 6-7(1) 7-5; [14]B. Pera (USA) d T. Martincova (CZE) 6-2 6-4; A. Blinkova (RUS) d [15]J. Fett (CRO) 6-1 6-1; [16] D. Kovinic (MNE) d M. Honcova (SVK) 6-4 5-76-1.