Paula Badosa takes down Tauson, Kvitova retires agains Mertens in Doha

After a very disappointing outing in Dubai, Paula Badosa returned to winning ways in Doha taking down Clara Tauson 6-1 6-2 while Petra Kvitova retired from her match against Mertens.

The Spaniard looked way better and much more comfortable in Doha compared to Dubai and it shows on the score. Tauson is a very good tennis player that started the year well in Australia. While she prefers indoors to outdoors generally, the Dane is very good at hitting the ball hard and in Doha, it can work well. However, she faced a player that is pretty good at it as well and she definitely showed it today.

From the start of the match, it was very clear that Badosa was focused on the goal. The Spaniard did not waste any time blasting a few winners and asserting herself as the more dominant player. Tauson for the most part does not defend very well and she did not know what to do with Badosa. The Spaniard cruised in the first set winning it 6-1.

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Badosa dropped only one point on her first serve and saved both break points she faced. On return, she mostly attacked Tauson on her 2nd serve and it worked very well. The 2nd set was quite similar with Badosa once again dominating on her own serve. She once again saved some break points while attacking on return. Tauson did not serve well in the 2nd set which gave Badosa even more looks.

She dominated most rallies and once again cruised rather easily. The score in the 2nd set was 6-2 with the Spaniard moving on to the next round. Petra Kvitova also played at the same time with the Czech player struggling visibly against Mertens. Down 5-7 2-1 Kvitova retired from the match.