Coco Gauff suffers surprise defeat to Katerina Siniakova in Qatar Open

Coco Gauff lost six games in a row in a shock defeat by Katerina Siniakova at the Qatar Open.

Making her first appearance since losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals of the Australian Open last month, Gauff was out of sorts and fell to a 6-2 6-4 defeat.

The American second seed looked to have turned things around after losing the opening set when she eased into a 4-0 lead in the second set.

But Czech Siniakova, better known for her achievements in the doubles game, responded with six games in a row for one of the biggest singles victories of her career.

It was brighter news for Japan’s Naomi Osaka who earned a straight sets victory over Croatia’s Petra Martic. Osaka controlled the opening set, setting her own rhythm and tempo before Martic fought back in the second to force a tie break. Osaka held her nerve though and ran out the winner with an 11-9 triumph.

Elena Rybakina continued her winning run by comprehensively sweeping aside China’s Zhu Lin 6-2 6-1. The World No. 5 secured her second title of the season in Abu Dhabi and looks like a strong contender to win in Qatar too.

Melbourne runner-up Zheng Qinwen, playing her first match as a top-10 player, came through 6-2 2-6 6-3 against Magda Linette, while teenager Linda Noskova, who was a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open, upset seventh seed Maria Sakkari 3-6 7-6 (2) 7-5.

Leylah Fernandez recovered from losing the first set to love to defeat Paula Badosa 0-6 6-2 6-3 and Victoria Azarenka was a 7-6 (2) 6-2 winner over Wang Xinyu.