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World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka was left stunned after being beaten by Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 32 at the Qatar Open.
A tightly-fought contest saw the world number 26 earn a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over Sabalenka, who was playing in her first match since her defeat in the Australian Open final last month.
Alexandrova came from a break down twice in the third set and held serve twice before earning victory in two hours and 36 minutes, setting up a last-16 clash with Elise Mertens.
Another upset saw Marta Kostyuk book her spot in the last 16 with a straight-sets win over Coco Gauff in Doha.
The 22-year-old Ukrainian claimed a 6-2 7-5 victory over the tournament’s third seed and will meet Magda Linette in the next round.
A tough contest saw Gauff finish with 39 unforced errors and only eight winners, and Kostyuk clinched victory after the 2023 US Open champion hit back-to-back double faults while serving for a second-set tiebreak.
In her on-court interview, Kostyuk said: “Coco is an incredible fighter. We always have incredible matches. I tried to stick to what I had to do. I’m very happy it worked out in two sets.”
Ons Jabeur also pulled off an impressive victory after beating seventh seed Qinwen Zheng 6-4 6-2 and will meet American Sofia Kenin in the last 16 after she came from behind to defeat compatriot Alycia Parks.
Fourth seed Jasmine Paolini beat wild card Caroline Garcia in straight sets and Elena Rybakina fended off a late surge from Peyton Stearns to win 6-2 6-4.
Linda Noskova will face World No 2 Iga Swiatek in the last 16 following her win over Yulia Putintseva.
PA
