Gavrilova, Kerber out of Qatar Open

P – Daria Gavrilova has been eliminated in the second round of the Qatar Open while Angelique Kerber also lost in her first singles tournament since winning the Australian Open.

Australian Gavrilova, who also went on a surprise run to the fourth round in the first grand slam of the year at Melbourne Park, was beaten by Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 6-3 on Tuesday.

Kerber lost 7-5 6-1 to China’s Zheng Saisai .

It was Kerber’s first singles tournament match since she beat Serena Williams in the Australian Open final on January 30.

The top-seeded Kerber received a first-round bye at Doha.

Kerber, 29, who also lost to Belinda Bencic at the Fed Cup earlier this month, hit 38 unforced errors as the world No.73 dominated.

Kerber, who withdrew from last week’s Dubai Open with a right thigh injury, said “I was not feeling good from the beginning.”

“I think you have days like this sometimes,” Kerber added.

“I don’t know how many mistakes I did today. This is not my game … that’s all I can say.”

The tournament also lost its second-seeded player when Simona Halep, the 2014 champion, was beaten by Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-1.

Zheng will play Eugenie Bouchard in the third round after the Canadian beat Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7-0) 7-5.

Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska advanced after beating Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko 6-4 6-4 while No.4-seeded Garbine Muguruza beat Japan’s Nao Hibino 6-2 6-0.

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