Karolína Muchová did not win a well-played match with world number five Caroline Garcia. He lost to the French at the tournament in Doha after a dramatic battle of 7:6, 5:7, 4:6. Petra Kvitová also finished in the 2nd round, losing 3:6, 6:7 to American Coco Gauffová.
Twenty-six-year-old Muchová, who is battling her way back into the WTA top 100 ranking, did well in her duel with third seed Garcia. At 5:4, she still couldn’t finish the opening set, but she won it seamlessly 7:3 in the tie-break.
However, she lost in the same two sets in the end and lost to the world number five and winner of the Tournament of Champions in the first reciprocal duel, which lasted exactly three hours.
The 32-year-old Kvitová played her first match against an opponent from the rising generation of tennis. The opening set was decided by a Czech break at 3:4, when she committed two double faults and dropped serve for the first and last time of the match in a clean game.
The second set reached a tie-break, with neither player gaining an advantage of more than one point. Kvitová, a two-time Wimbledon champion, saved the first match point at 5:6 minutes, but at 6:7 minutes she could no longer get the ball on court, and world number six Gauff was pleased with the progress.
Kvitová, currently ranked 13th, was very successful in Doha for three consecutive appearances in 2018, 2020 and 2021, when she was always in the final and won two titles. Now – like last year – he was knocked out in the second round.
Doha Women’s Tennis Tournament (hard surface, subsidy $780,637):
Singles – 2nd round: Garcia (3-Fr.) – Muchova (Czech Republic) 6:7(3:7), 7:5, 6:4, Gauffová (4-USA) – Kvitova (Czech Republic) 6:3, 7:6 (8:6).
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