WTA 500 Doha 2/13 - 2/18 2023

[Suliso]

Kasatkina vs. Haddad Maia up next. This should be interesting, given Kasatkina's poor form so far this year.

I'd not be surprised with 6-2, 6-2 for Haddad Maia...

[Deuce]

Kasatkina vs. Haddad Maia up next. This should be interesting, given Kasatkina's poor form so far this year.

I'd not be surprised with 6-2, 6-2 for Haddad Maia...

That wouldn't have surprised me, either (though it would absolutely shock me now, given that it's 5-3 for Haddad Maia! ).
Honestly, no result either way would shock me in this one - though I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if Kasatkina wins it - based, again, on her poor form to this point this year.

[Deuce]

Pegula came back from 0-3 down in the 3rd to win it 7-5 over Ostapenko.
Sakkari easily in straight sets over Alexandrova...
Haddad Maia won the 1st set 6-3 over Kasatkina; on serve halfway through the 2nd...
Swiatek vs. Collins just beginning now.

I'm looking forward to Garcia vs. Muchova later. Both players are enjoyable to watch - Garcia with her aggressiveness and Muchova with her very fluid all-court game.
This should be a good test of how far Muchova has progressed in her comeback from a couple of tough injuries.

[ponchi101]

Belinda wins another tough come from behind match. Her first win vs Azarenka actually.

Interested to see how she does vs Swiatek on this kind of court.

I will actually give her the upper hand. By a tiny bit. 55% she wins.

[JazzNU]

Haddad Maia is in a competitive match with Kasatkina, but TC insists on showing Iga wax Danielle. I'm not sure what the goal is, but it's only gotten me to change the channel.

[Deuce]

Haddad Maia tried really hard to blow the 2nd set after being up a break... And she tried hard to blow the tiebreak, as well...
But Kasatkina would have none of it, and tried even harder to blow the tiebreak.
Kasatkina succeeded.

I think Daria should take a month or so off from tennis. Just get her mind occupied with other things in life for a while... because she really looks lost out on court so far this year.

This match having finished, I switched over to Swiatek - Collins, eager to see what was happening there... only to see the handshake.
Collins won one game in the match.

[JazzNU]

Ostapenko blew her lead in that match. Was up 5-2 in the 3rd and instead of playing as she has been at many times in the last 12 months, she became mistake prone Alona of old and just helped Jessie get over the line. She definitely miscalculated if she thought Jessie would stop fighting and just give it to her.

I'm sure there is someone, but hard to think of a player that gets so consistently distracted and frustrated when calls don't go her way. I remember very few times where it makes her angry and focused and she finishes the other player off in short order.

[Deuce]

Muchova vs. Garcia is not disappointing - they split the first 2 sets with some high quality tennis on both sides - 7-6 Muchova in the 1st, and 7-5 Garcia in the 2nd.
Good stuff...
Beginning the 3rd now, and it's a toss-up.

[ponchi101]

Belinda wins another tough come from behind match. Her first win vs Azarenka actually.

Interested to see how she does vs Swiatek on this kind of court.

I will actually give her the upper hand. By a tiny bit. 55% she wins.

After that 0&1 trashing of Iga over Danielle, can somebody fetch me some BBQ sauce to eat these words?

[Deuce]

3 hours exactly...
Total points - 114 Muchova, 113 Garcia...
Garcia wins with a late break in the 3rd.
A close, enjoyable, and entertaining match - high quality from both players.

[JTContinental]

Belinda wins another tough come from behind match. Her first win vs Azarenka actually.

Interested to see how she does vs Swiatek on this kind of court.

We will not find out, as Bencic has pulled out of the tournament citing fatigue

[ti-amie]

Belinda wins another tough come from behind match. Her first win vs Azarenka actually.

Interested to see how she does vs Swiatek on this kind of court.

We will not find out, as Bencic has pulled out of the tournament citing fatigue

What?!

[JazzNU]

There probably won't be a better match this week than the one between Muchova and Garcia. That goes for men's or women's.

A damn shame that Muchova couldn't pull it out, but Garcia's been battling back in this kind of match all thru this short season, so she definitely knows how to do it at this point. Has had to do it much more than she did during her run in the second half of the year. But regardless, great to see Muchova playing this well. Hope this means everything is all better with her injury and she'll be resuming a full time schedule on tour. It's seems like she's had a lot of starts and stops with this injury.

[JTContinental]

Belinda wins another tough come from behind match. Her first win vs Azarenka actually.

Interested to see how she does vs Swiatek on this kind of court.

We will not find out, as Bencic has pulled out of the tournament citing fatigue

What?!

https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3066186/ ... y-walkover

[JazzNU]

Belinda wins another tough come from behind match. Her first win vs Azarenka actually.

Interested to see how she does vs Swiatek on this kind of court.

I will actually give her the upper hand. By a tiny bit. 55% she wins.

After that 0&1 trashing of Iga over Danielle, can somebody fetch me some BBQ sauce to eat these words?

Danielle has beaten her before and it wasn't in like 2018 either, so not a crazy thought. Her getting beat isn't surprising, but thoroughly thrashed? Makes me think Danielle wasn't feeling quite herself today. Danielle won 4 points in the first set. FOUR. Not on Iga's serve, but in total.