Doha: 2017 champion Karolina Pliskova, world No. 26 Marie Bouzkova, former world No. 1 in doubles Elise Mertens andBulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova all made it into the main rounds of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2023 at the conclusion of the qualifying rounds on Monday.
Pliskova, who finished last season ranked No. 32, her lowest year-end ranking in 10 years, secured her place after defeating Canada’s Leylah Fernandez (6-2, 7-5).
The 30-year-old Monaco-resident is one of the high-profile players participating in this year’s tournament. The former world No. 1 in singles had earlier dispatched Britain’s Harriet Dart and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, respectively, in straight sets en route to her main round.
In the other matches, Bouzkova handed a straight sets (7-5, 6-1) defeat to Canada’s Rebecca Marino while Mertens beat Belgium’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse (6-4, 2-6, 6-4). Tomova, on the other hand, defeated USA’s Madison Brengle in straight sets (6-3, 6-3).
Meanwhile, eight-seed Veronika Kudermetova overcame the resistance of the Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova to book her place in the round of 16. The Kazan-born world No. 11 overcame the scare of the 27-year-old Czech to secure victory 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in a thrilling encounter that lasted all of three hours.
Source: Qatar Olympic Committee