Qatar Open: No 1 seed Iga Swiatek loses to unseeded Maria Sakkari as Victoria Mboko shocks Elena Rybakina
World No 2 Iga Swiatek has been dumped out of the Qatar Open after losing 2-6 6-4 7-5 to Maria Sakkari in a shock quarter-final upset.
Swiatek – the top seed in the competition – got off to a routine start in a dominant 33-minute first set, but the world No 52 Sakkari battled back, forcing a decider as she claimed her first set in five matches against the Pole.
Sakkari was made to pay for a missed match point at 5-2 in the deciding set when Swiatek won three straight games to bring the match back to level.
Her opponent, though, held her own serve and then claimed the crucial break in the final game to book her place in the semi-finals, breaking Swiatek’s staggering 109-0 record in WTA matches where she had won the first set.
The Greek will next face the winner of the quarter-final between Karolina Muchova and Anna Kalinskaya as she looks to win a third WTA singles title and first since 2023.
Resilient Mboko snaps Rybakina’s winning streak
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Highlights of the Qatar Open quarter-final match between Victoria Mboko and Elena Rybakina
Victoria Mboko sent Elena Rybakina packing and ended her winning streak at nine straight matches in a 7-5 4-6 6-4 victory over the Australian Open champion.
The Canadian, underdog to the in-form Rybakina, shocked her by winning four straight games to snatch the opening set after trailing 3-5.
A more routine 6-4 second set seemed to settle the Kazakh’s nerves, and Rybakina looked very much the favourite when leading 4-2 in the deciding set.
But Mboko, miraculously, repeated her first-set heroics and won four straight games once more to see out the match.
The Canadian will face Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-final tomorrow, live on Sky Sports.
De Minaur downs Wawrinka in straight sets at Rotterdam Open
Alex de Minaur will face Botic van de Zandschulp in the quarter-finals of the Rotterdam Open
At the Rotterdam Open, Alex de Minaur is on course for a third successive final at the tournament, after beating Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-2 in the round of 16.
The Australian No 1 looked confident throughout a straightforward encounter, only being broken once in both sets on his way to a dominant victory.
De Minaur will face Botic van de Zandschulp on his opponents’ home soil in the quarter-finals after the Dutchman notched his own impressive win against Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 7-6 (7-4).
