Aryna Sabalenka withdraws from Doha following her second victory at the Australian Open, Jessica Pegula out as well
Sabalenka won the Qatar Open in 2020.
(L) Aryna Sabalenka; (R) Jessica Pegula (Sources: Imago/Wikipedia)
Aryna Sabalenka has decided to withdraw from the 2024 Qatar Open, which is set to start on February 11. The Belarusian recently won her second singles Major at the 2024 Australian Open and has decided to take a break.
She is expected to choose her tournaments wisely before ultimately shifting her focus to Indian Wells and the Miami Open. Sabalenka did not take part in the Qatar Open last year as well.
A few days ago, the tournament announced a list of its participants and it had the names of top players like Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, and so on. Alongside Sabalenka, American tennis player Jessica Pegula has also decided not to take part in the tournament. Unlike Sabalenka, Pegula did not have a great outing in the Australian Open. She got eliminated after her early loss against Clara Burel in the second round itself.
Since 2020, Sabalenka has taken part in the Qatar Open three times. She won the tournament in 2020 but got eliminated in the second round the very next year, playing as the defending champion. In 2022, she reached the quarterfinals.
Sabalenka has been in sensational form lately and is currently one of the most consistent WTA players out there. She successfully defended her Australian Open title a few days ago and performed well in almost all the tournaments in 2023. The Belarusian defeated Qinwen Zheng in the final of the 2024 Australian Open to lift her second singles Grand Slam title and did not lose a single set in the entire tournament.
Aryna Sabalenka is glad that she could remove the ‘One Slam Wonder’ tag
Sabalenka won her first singles Major at the 2023 Australian Open. She was given the tag of a ‘One Slam Wonder’ for the longest time, as the Belarusian came close to winning the Grand Slam multiple times but yet failed to do so. Most recently, she lost to Coco Gauff in the final of the 2024 US Open. Thus, she said after winning the 2024 Grand Slam that she is glad to finally silence her doubters.
It's very sad that people call 'one Grand Slam champion' that way. And of course, it was in my head, that I didn't want to be a one-time Grand Slam champion.Sabalenka
The 25-year-old said that she was super happy about winning her second Grand Slam and hopes that she can keep building her tennis. Aryna Sabalenka might take part in Dubai Open now that she has withdrawn from the Doha Open.
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Rishab Dutta
(794 Articles Published)