February 14, (THEWILL) – The quarter-finals are set at the Qatar Total Open in Doha after an eventful day of women’s singles action. Naomi Osaka advanced via walkover while Leylah Fernandez scored an impressive victory.
Osaka moved on without playing when Lesia Tsurenko withdrew with an elbow injury. Tsurenko was coming off a big win over fourth seed Ons Jabeur. Osaka meets Karolina Pliskova next. She is playing her first WTA quarter-final since April 2022 after time away to start a family.
Pliskova edged rising Czech teenager Linda Noskova in three sets. Noskova served for the match but could not close as Pliskova battled back for the win. The two-time Grand Slam finalist continues her resurgent 2024 season.
In the bottom half of the draw, Fernandez dominated the closing stages of both sets to upset fifth seeded Zheng Qinwen 7-5, 6-3. The Canadian was down 2-5 in the opening set but won 12 of the last 15 games. She faces third seed Elena Rybakina next.
Rybakina also advanced on Wednesday, outlasting American Emma Navarro 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-4. Navarro saved a match point in the second set tiebreaker and forced a decider before Rybakina finally prevailed.
The last quarterfinal spot went to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova following a 7-5, 6-3 win against Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova. Top seed Iga Swiatek is still scheduled to play later Wednesday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
