WTA Qatar Open Quarter-Finals Round-up | Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina suffer surprising defeats as Mboko and Sakkari impress in dramatic matchups

Just eight remain in the 2026 Qatar Open, with their only four spots up for grabs in the semi-finals. We have already witnessed some very surprising results in the first WTA 1000 event of the year,and more are expected to be on the way. The likes of Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Victoria Mboko will be heading the field with all four quarter-final matches being played out today. Follow for live updates!

There were some absolutely thrilling matchups in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open, with none more than the absolute classic between the reigning Australian open champion Elena Rybakina and Victoria Mboko. Despite the form of the Kazakh, it would be the 19-year-old who took home a precious victory, winning 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Rybakina was the second seed for the tournament and one of the outright favourites for the title. Thus, meaning that Mboko taking a 2-0 lead in the first set was firmly against the script. Rybakina looked to have turned it around in her favour, getting the match back on serve before taking a break advantage of her own.

Someone as imperious on her serve as Rybakina would normally be backed to routinely win this set from here but Mboko fought back. From 4-3 down she went on to break as her opponent was serving it out. It was in the midst of a four-game spurt which the Canadian would go on to take the first set.

Rybakina soon turned things her way again, desperate to regain the lead. She sailed into a 3-1 lead but again Mboko was clipping at her heels. The pair traded breaks but fortunately for Rybakina she was able to hold on and level the match.

It had finally looked like Rybakina had kept a lid on her young rival. A 4-2 lead looked like too steep of a hill to climb for Mboko against an opponent with such high calibre, but Mboko is a worthy competitor. She would storm to glory, winning four games on the spin while clinching her fourth match point to complete a famous victory. This result has placed Mboko in the top 10 in the world for the very first time. Incredible to think that this time last year she was languishing around the 300th in the world rank.

There are more concerning signs for Iga Swiatek in 2026 with her suffering another disappointing loss at a tournament she has won three times before. Maria Sakkari managed to get a terrific result over the number one seed, winning 2-6, 4-6, 5-7.

The first set looked like very routine for Swiatek. Just two points went against the serve in the opening four games before the six-time Grand Slam champion accelerated away from the Greek tennis player. A four game winning streak was enough to put the Pole in front.

Sakkari responded to this disappointment very well as she broke the serve for the first time in the match as she raced into a 3-0 lead. Swiatek got back on level terms at 4-4 with her own three-game winning run before wasting two chances to go 5-4 ahead and serve it out for the match. Sakkari punished her ruthlessly, breaking to seal the second set and give something for Swiatek to ponder.

After three consecutive holds, three breaks in a row met this. It would go the way of Sakkari who stormed into a 5-2 lead. It looked like Sakkari may had wasted her chance at winning a huge match after Swiatek got the break back and saved a match point. This would not be the case. From 5-5. Sakkari won eight of the final 10 points to seal a huge win and put herself in a first WTA 1000 semi-final since 2023.

Jelena Ostapenko had a lot of pressure on her shoulders going into this event with a huge number of ranking points to defend from her run last year. She has given herself a chance to recoup all those points, if not more, with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

There were only four holds of serve in the opening set, which held 12 games. Both players were struggling to get some consistency on what is normally the more reliable option of starting a game. While this occurred, both players continuously seemed to be taking the advantage in the match.

The Latvian started the brighter as she went 3-0 ahead before Cocciaretto had a chance to make her mark. It looked like it would be routine for Ostapaneko at 5-2, but that was not the case as the Italian broke twice enroute to levelling up at 5-5. The momentum seemed to be on her side of the court but that was soon extinguished when Ostapenko overcame a dramatic final game to back up a prior break to clinch the first set.

Again, it was the former Roland Garros champion who raced out of the blocks in the opening stages of a set. She went 3-1 up but would soon see herself level at 4-4. Following the pattern of the first set. Cocciaretto did all that hard work for it to be undone in an instant. Ostapenko got her break advantage back before getting over the line to reach an incredible fourth semi-final in Qatar.

Karolina Muchova had never made it past the round-of-16 in the Qatar Open. She has now reached the last-four after a solid display against Anna Kalinskaya, winning 6-3, 6-4.

The former French Open finalist tasted blood first as she found a pathway on the way to a 3-0 lead. Kalinskaya had recently defeated the inform Elina Svitolina and was not going to go down so easily. She broke back, only to see the 3-2 deficit she clawed back to go to 5-2. Muchova was not going to leave the door ajar again in the first set as she took an important advantage.

The second set turned on its head in the favour of Kalinskaya. After a brace of holds to love, she won three games in a row to sail into a 4-1 lead. Muchova responded with the fourth hold to love of the set before breaking back. She would not make another mistake for the rest of the match as she overcame her opponent to book the fourth and final spot in the semi-finals.