Thiem only seed left standing in Doha
DOHA: World No 5 Dominic Thiem eased through to the quarter finals of the Qatar Open on Wednesday to become the only seeded player left in the tournament after the first two rounds saw the seven other highestranked players eliminated.
Four seeds crashed out in the first round and a further three lost in the second, ensuring that the Doha tournament will have its first non-seeded finalist since Gael Monfils in 2014.
French veteran Richard Gasquet and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez — seeded five, seven and eight – lost on Wednesday as the surprises continued in Doha.
They joined second seed Pablo Carreno Busta, as well as Tomas Berdych, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Filip Krajinovic — numbers three, four and six respectively – who all fell at the first hurdle.
The carnage among the seeds comes after the tournament was shorn of three major stars before it even began, with Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and JoWilfried Tsonga pulling out as they try to recover from injuries.
Thiem, the No 1 seed, won his second round match against Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene 7-5, 6-4, but said the contest was tougher than the scoreline suggested.
“I’m pleased today, I’m through in straight sets,” he told reporters afterwards.
“It was a tough match, but I expected it and had two tough matches which I both won in straight sets.”
The Austrian was set to meet Gasquet in the last eight but the Frenchman was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Greek qualifier and teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Another notable winner was Russia’s Andrey Rublev, 20, who beat Verdasco in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a centre court match watched by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Paris Saint Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi.
z BRISBANE: Elina Svitolina entered the Brisbane International semi-finals after her opponent Johanna Konta retired with a hip injury during the third set of the quarter-final contest yesterday. Third seed Elina next plays defending champion Karolina Pliskova.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who beat France’s Alize Cornet 3-6, 62, 6-3, will play Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova in the other semifinal.
z SHENZHEN: Maria Sharapova admitted that she needed to play far better after the Russian eased into the semi-finals of the Shenzhen Open with victory over Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas yesterday.
The former No 1, who has worked her way up to 59 in the world rankings since her return from a doping ban last year, will face the Czech sixth seed and defending champion Katerina Siniakova in the last four.
Maria, the five-time Grand Slam champion, won the Tianjin Open in October for her first title since her ban, but said after defeating Zarina 6-3, 6-3 in 89 minutes: “I didn’t play my best tennis and there’s certainly a lot of things to improve on in the next (match).
“The great thing is that I’m through and have another chance to play tomorrow.”
The other semi-final is between Irina Begu and fellow Romanian Simona Halep, the reigning World No 1.
Simona, guaranteed top seeding for this month’s Australian Open, blew away Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-2. Agencies