Muguruza and Kontaveit sail into Qatar Open round 2

Garbine Muguruza and Anett Kontaveit sailed into the 2nd round of the Qatar Open in Doha with convincing victories.

Muguruza was the first one to step onto the courts and she once again proved that the event in Doha is one of her favourite ones. Initially, she had issues against Cirstea due to the tricky playstyle of the Romanian who is actually playing another solid season. When she finally found her rhythm she was able to take control of the match rather easily.

She won the opening set in a close tiebreak 7-4 but after that completely trashed the Romanian with 6-1. It was a much better showing by Muguruza compared to Dubai and she will certainly be a threat for a deep run. Last year she reached the final but lost to Kvitova.

Joining her in the next round will be Anett Kontaveit who proved much better than Croatian big-hitter Ana Konjuh. It was a true festival of tennis between them as neither is shy about abusing the ball. In a matchup like that, the more consistent player usually ends up winning and that is how it went. Kontaveit is a very consistent hitter while Konjuh for the most part isn't.

In a direct clash of those styles, Kontaveit proved much more consistent with more winners and fewer errors. The final score was 6-2 6-3 for the Estonian who moves on. She is a dark horse candidate to win the event and so far so good.