The upcoming even WTA in Doha used to have a glorious entry list, but unfortunately, it has been losing some pieces. Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka already decided not to play, but now the organization won’t have 3 more key players.: Bianca Andreescu, Simona Halep, and Sofia Kenin.
Up to now, the top seeds are going to be Ashleigh Barty and Elina Svitolina.
Bianca Andreescu and her injury
Bianca was hoping for a strong comeback in 2021 after missing the competitions for 15 months. However, things didn’t go as intended and eventually she failed to have any meaningful run during the Australian summer.
After losing in Melbourne’s recent semifinal, she retired from Adelaide and now she pulled out from Doha citing a left leg injury.
Ranked world no.9, the Canadian played her last match on the 18th of February when she was overcome by Marie Bouzkova 6-7(9) 6-2 7-5 in the semifinal in Melbourne (draw).
At present, during this year Andreescu has achieved a 4-2 match record. Bianca Vanessa Andreescu’s latest run in Melbourne was the best achievement of her season.
Simona Halep
Simona also announced her retirement from Doha without adding any reason. The world no.4 is notoriously adverse to travel where there are risks involved and she is not happy to be around during the pandemic.
Now the world no.3, the Romanian played her last match on the 16th of February when she was defeated by Serena Williams 6-3 6-3 in the quarter of the Australian Open (draw).
This season Halep has achieved a composed 6-2 record.
Bianca Vanessa Andreescu and Simona Halep faced off just on 1 occasion. The head to head is 1-0 for Halep. When they played, Simona Halep won 3-6 7-6(6) 6-3 in the round robin in Shenzhen (WTA Finals) in October 2019.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
Sofia Kenin and the operation
Sofia was extremely keen to play especially after a rather disappointing start of the season. Unfortunately, Sofia had her appendix removed last week and therefore she needs to recover.
Ranked no.4 (career-high), Sofia played her last match on the 14th of February when she lost to Olivia Gadecki 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 in the 2nd round in Melbourne (draw).
This season Sofia owns a composed 6-4 match record.
Ashleigh Barty in 2021
At the moment ranked no.1, Barty played her last match on the 17th of February when she lost to Karolina Muchova 1-6 6-3 6-2 in the quarter of the Australian Open (draw).
Currently, during this year Barty has a 8-1 win-loss record. Ashleigh has won 1 title in Melbourne.
Elina Svitolina in 2021
Now the world no.5, Svitolina played her last match on the 15th of February when she lost to Jessica Pegula 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the 4th round of the Australian Open (draw).
This season Svitolina has a 8-3 record.
Ashleigh Barty and Elina Svitolina played each other 6 times. The head to head is 5-1 for Svitolina. Previously, the last time when they competed against each other, Ashleigh Barty won 6-4 6-3 in the final in Shenzhen (WTA Finals) in November 2019.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
Doha Entry List
This is the latest entry list.
Main Draw Singles
1 Barty, Ashleigh (AUS)
5 Svitolina, Elina (UKR)
6 Pliskova, Karolina (CZE)
7 Sabalenka, Aryna (BLR)
9 Kvitova, Petra (CZE)
10 Bertens, Kiki (NED)
12 Bencic, Belinda (SUI)
15 Muguruza, Garbiñe (ESP)
16 Keys, Madison (USA)
17 Swiatek, Iga (POL)
19 Rybakina, Elena (KAZ)
21 Vondrousova, Marketa (CZE)
22 Sakkari, Maria (GRE)
23 Kontaveit, Anett (EST)
24 Brady, Jennifer (USA)
25 Kerber, Angelique (GER)
Alternates
28 Putintseva, Yulia (KAZ)
30 Jabeur, Ons (TUN)
31 Anisimova, Amanda (USA)
32 Vekic, Donna (CRO)
34 Wang, Qiang (CHN)
34 Zheng, Saisai (CHN) SR
35 Zhang, Shuai (CHN)
