DOHA: Sofia Kenin suffered on Tuesday her third defeat since winning the Australian Open earlier this month, losing to Ukrainian youngster Dayana Yastremska in the Doha second round, while world number one Ashleigh Barty cruised to victory.
World number five Kenin, who defeated Garbine Muguruza to claim her maiden Grand Slam singles title in Melbourne, went down 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to Yastremska.
American Kenin lost one of her two matches in the United States’ Fed Cup qualifying win over Latvia, before being knocked out by in-form Kazakh Elena Rybakina in the Dubai opening round last week. The 19-year-old Yastremska will face Muguruza in the third round after the Spaniard made short work of Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, winning 6-1, 6-2.
Barty strolled past German Laura Siegemund in her first match since losing in the Australian Open semi-finals to Kenin. The reigning French Open champion saw off the world number 68, 6-3, 6-2. Barty broke serve five times in the match, winning in under an hour and a quarter.