Top seed Aryna Sabalenka must get through the test of in-form Ekaterina Alexandrova in Tuesday's second-round meeting at the Qatar Open.
The 2020 champion in Doha returns to action for the first time since her Australian Open final loss and will need to hit a high level against an opponent riding a five-match winning run heading into an eighth encounter with the recent Linz champion.
Match preview
© Imago
It will be fascinating to see Sabalenka's reaction on court when she plays for the first time since losing her Australian Open crown to Madison Keys at the end of January.
The top seed was chasing a three-peat Down Under but came unstuck against the American player, who claimed her maiden Grand Slam title eight years after falling to Sloane Stephens at the 2017 US Open.
That loss ended Sabalenka's 20-match sequence of victories at Melbourne Park and an 11-match streak of wins to start the 2025 season.
The Belarusian star returns to the court competitively in Doha, keen to continue her impressive record at the tournament, even if this year marks only her third appearance.
A winner on her debut in 2020, Sabalenka reached the quarters in 2022 before falling to then-seventh seed and eventual champion Iga Swiatek, ending her seven-match streak of victories at the Qatar Open.
© Imago
Although favoured to improve her 7-1 win-loss record at the WTA 1000 event, the 18-time tour champion could face a stern examination against in-form Alexandrova, fresh off avenging her Australian Open defeat by Emma Raducanu in Sunday's tournament-opening success.
The recent champion in Linz defeated the British player 6-3, 7-5, inflicting Raducanu's fourth consecutive defeat and third straight first-round loss on the 2021 US Open champion to secure a fifth triumph on the trot.
Given the five-time WTA champion's form, she heads into her eighth match-up with Sabalenka keen to improve her 6-3 win-loss record this season in the pair's first meeting since their three-setter at last year's US Open.
A shock success for Alexandrova will see her match last year's run to the third round before losing to the 2024 top seed, Swiatek; the Russian player could suffer consecutive eliminations to a leading player in Doha.
Tournament so far
Aryna Sabalenka:
First round: Bye
Ekaterina Alexandrova:
First round: vs. Emma Raducanu 6-3 7-5
Head To Head
US Open (2024) - Third round: Sabalenka 2-6 6-1 6-2
Wimbledon (2023) - Fourth round: Sabalenka 6-4 6-0
'S-Hertogenbosch (2022) - Final: Alexandrova 7-5 6-0
Moscow (2021) - Quarter-finals: Alexandrova 6-3 6-4
St Petersburg (2019) - Quarter-finals: Sabalenka 6-3 6-4
Shenzhen (2019) - Round of 16: Sabalenka 6-3 6-3
Shenzhen (2017) - Final: Alexandrova 6-2 7-5
Although Sabalenka leads her head-to-head with Alexandrova 4-3, the Belarusian has been behind 1-0 and 3-2 before notching consecutive wins to gain the advantage.
With five of their match-ups coming on hard courts, both women have previous experience playing each other on the surface, with the top seed winning three of those encounters.
While Alexandrova heads into Tuesday's contest on a four-match losing run against top-10 players, including last year's US Open defeat by Sabalenka, the 30-year-old player claimed three victories over elite opponents in 2024, including wins over Elena Rybakina and Swiatek, and aims to record her first this season.
We say: Sabalenka to win in three sets
Even though Alexandrova has much-needed momentum heading into the round-two contest with Sabalenka, the top seed is backed to avoid an early exit to her in-form opponent, improving to 8-1 in Doha, to end the Russian's five-match winning streak.
