Sakkari avenges Melbourne defeat against Pegula as Jabeur overcomes Martincova in Doha

Maria Sakkari and Ons Jabeur secured quarterfinal spots at the Qatar Open in Doha by defeating Jessica Pegula and Tereza Martincova.

Jabeur continues to win matches albeit the Tunisian is unable to keep them clean. She faced Martincova for a spot in the quarterfinals and proved better but it took her 3 sets. Early on it was all good for Jabeur who played her game and generally had no issues against her opponent. Martincova is a player who fights very hard and quite a few times it makes up for a lack of skill.

After losing the opening set 1-6, Martincova fought back bravely in the 2nd set winning it 6-3. She opened up the 3rd set with better play than Jabeur taking an early 2-0 lead. The Tunisian was in a bad spot but composed herself in time to fight back and win the match. At 3-2 for Martincova, Jabeur went on a 4-0 run to close out the match 6-3.

Joining her in the quarterfinals will be Maria Sakkari who defeated Jessica Pegula avenging the defeat she suffered against the American a month ago at the Australian Open. Pegula opened this match better as well taking a 2-0 lead. Sakkari broke back immediately after and continued applying pressure after that. With time, Sakkari found her rhythm and her confidence grew as she captured the first set with 6-4.

The Greek complicated things in the 2nd set as well with Pegula again taking an early 2-0. The American once again failed to hold the lead as Sakkari battled back. Eventually, she started playing even better closing ut the 2nd set with 7-5.