Doha takeaways: Alexandrova stays hot to stun No. 1 Sabalenka

In-form Ekaterina Alexandrova

View Profile delivered the third upset in as many Center Court matches at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open on Tuesday with a stunning 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) comeback against World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka

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Doha: Draws | Scores | Order of Play | Main-draw breakdown

Sabalenka, 2020's Doha champion, last featured in the draw in 2022, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Iga Swiatek

View Profile . Returning this year as the top seed, she faced a tough first foe in the red-hot Alexandrova, who entered the match fresh of her first WTA 500 title at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz, and had beaten Emma Raducanu

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And after dropping the first set, Alexandrova wasn't about to let her streak end quietly. She came from a break down twice in the third set, twice holding serve to stay in the match, and eventually, wrapped up her second career victory against a World No. 1 in less than a year. She first earned that milestone last March in Miami by beating then-top ranked Iga Swiatek

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Read on for more takeaways from Alexandrova's sixth straight victory, which also helped her match her best Doha result.

Another tight tussle between big hitters: Sabalenka had often been given trouble by Alexandrova, entering Tuesday's clash with a slim 4-3 winning record against her unseeded foe, who possesses an impressive power game of her own. But the vast majority of those matches were decided in straight sets -- perhaps a nod to both players' ability to dominate when confident.

Though their head-to-head dates back to 2017, Sabalenka had won the pair's only three setter only recently: a fairly routine performance at the US Open last year despite losing the first set, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.

But over two hours and 36 minutes, it was Alexandrova's time to turn the tables. 

Alexandrova gave all she had: Alexandrova said it took "a lot of energy and focus" to stay with Sabalenka's level over two-and-a-half hours. 

"It was a very difficult match to play against her, because she's a fighter and she plays every single point. not matter what," Alexandrova said post-match. 

"I told myself before the match that you just need to do the maximum you can do tonight, and if you lose, you know that you've tried everything."

State of the draw: In the span of a single day, the season's first WTA 1000 event saw the top-seeded Sabalenka, No. 3 seed Coco Gauff

View Profile , No. 7 seed Zheng Qinwen and No. 9 seed Paula Badosa

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With Badosa, Gauff and Sabalenka's ousting, three of the four quarterfinalists in the top half of the draw are assured of being unseeded, and Alexandrova will take an 2-1 head-to-head record into her third-round match against Elise Mertens

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