Kazakhstan's top seed Elena Rybakina suffers surprise loss at Qatar Open

NUR-SULTAN. KAZIJNFORM - Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, who is now number 20 in the world, failed in the first round of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, Kazinform cites Sports.kz.

Rybakina was defeated by Jaqueline Cristian of Romania ranked 71st in the world 4-6, 3-6.

In the first-round match that lasted for 1 hour and 23 minutes, the Kakhstanshi eight aces, made four double-faults, while her opponent fired four aces, made one double-fault, and saved two break-points. The 1-1 tie stands as the score of the two players' encounters.

Jaqueline Cristian is to face off against Daria Kasatkina of Russia in the next round.