Defending champion Amanda Anisimova forced to retire at Qatar Open debut

World No. 4 Amanda Anisimova was forced to retire from her second-round match at the Qatar Open against former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova. The defending champion was engaged in a tough battle, but it became evident that she was not feeling well, and she ultimately retired midway through the third set. She is the second player of the day to retire mid-match, following Emma Raducanu's retirement, just minutes before Anisimova.

The American arrived in Dohat with the difficult task of defending the title she won in 2025, her first WTA 1000 crown, where she defeated rivals such as Paula Badosa, Leylah Fernandez and Marta Kostyuk — before overcoming former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in the final.

This time, Anisimova arrived as the third seed and was emerging as one of the clear favourites — especially following the withdrawal of World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka before the start of the tournament. However, she is now unable to defend the points earned a year ago and will drop several positions in the rankings, officially falling out of the top five after five months.

Pliskova, meanwhile, claimed her sixth victory in an imposing rivalry against Anisimova. The former Czech World No. 1 is the opponent who has caused Anisimova the most problems throughout her career, holding a dominant 6–1 head-to-head record and standing as the only player to have defeated her six times.

Anisimova was facing one of the rivals — perhaps the rival — who has troubled her the most in head-to-head meetings. Even so, the American showed her favourite status early, earning a quick break and, behind strong service games, racing out to a 4-1 lead. It looked like a calm day at the office for the American, who was rock-solid on serve and took advantage of Pliskova’s lack of match rhythm — the Czech currently ranked World No. 418 after a long absence from competition due to injuries.

However, Pliskova fought back, winning three games in a row and later saving two set points before levelling at 5-5. A comeback appeared to be brewing for the veteran Czech, but Anisimova stepped on the accelerator in the closing stages and secured another break in the 12th game — on her fourth set-point opportunity — to take the lead.

At the start of the second set, it appeared that Anisimova would continue to control the match, moving ahead 3-0 once again with an early break, capitalising on issues with her opponent’s second serve. The advantage was clear, and it seemed only a matter of time before the American secured another victory in Doha, but errors began to creep into her game — apparently because she was already starting to feel unwell physically.

Pliskova responded by taking two consecutive breaks in two opportunities, winning four games in a row. Anisimova managed to get one of the breaks back, and everything was ultimately decided in the tie-break, where Pliskova was more effective on serve and sealed the set 7-6(3).

Barely into the third set, it became increasingly clear that Anisimova was no longer able to maintain the rhythm of the rallies and was committing more errors than during the early stages of the match. Pliskova stuck to her script, serving well and earning a break when the opportunity arose. Anisimova called for a medical time-out while trailing 1-2, during which her vital signs and blood pressure were checked.

Although the American returned to the court, Pliskova immediately earned another break and then moved ahead 4-1 with her serve. Anisimova realised she could no longer keep up with her opponent’s pace and chose to retire, ending her title defence prematurely. The American will drop to at least World No. 6, falling behind Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the battle to be the American No. 1.

Pliskova’s return to the courts has been positive so far, after reaching the third round at the Australian Open — her first WTA-level tournament in 17 months — and she has now booked her place in the third round of the WTA 1000 Qatar Open, something she had not achieved since the Middle East swing back in 2024, when she reached the semifinals in Doha and the third round in Dubai.