(VIDEO) A cat steals the show in Aryna Sabalenka’s shocking loss at Qatar Open
WTA
A rather curious incident occurred during Aryna Sabalenka’s defeat at the Qatar Open. The world No. 1 was unable to overcome Ekaterina Alexandrova, exiting early from the first WTA 1000 tournament of the year.
However, Sabalenka’s loss wasn’t the only talking point of the match. In a bizarre moment during the second set, with the Belarusian leading 6-3, 2-2, play was interrupted when a cat ran onto the court just as Alexandrova faced a break point (30-40).
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A ball kid chased after the feline, trying to catch it, but after a few seconds, the cat ran off the court, leaving Sabalenka laughing at the unexpected disruption. The incident remained purely anecdotal, as it didn’t take long for play to resume.
The world No. 1 endured a disappointing return to the courts following her Australian Open final loss to Madison Keys. The top seed’s early exit (6-3, 3-6, 6-7) could prove costly, as her hold on the No. 1 ranking is now under threat.
Sabalenka now sits at 8,956 points, while Iga Swiatek—the second seed and three-time Doha champion (2022-2024)—has a chance to close the gap to under 200 points if she wins the title again. This sets up a potential head-to-head ranking battle between the two at next week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Meanwhile, Ekaterina Alexandrova will face Elise Mertens in the Round of 16 in Qatar.
an unexpected visitor 🐈#QatarTotalEnergiesOpen pic.twitter.com/A9jyQrmRj5
— wta (@WTA) February 11, 2025
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- It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025
