TTENNISENNIS | Page 2 CCRICKETRICKET | Page 3 Winning in England Doha would expecting turn be special, says from fi rst ball in Jabeur fi nal Test too Monday, March 1, 2021 FOOTBALL Rajab 17, 1442 AH United frustrated GULF TIMES by penalty row, Bale stars for Spurs SPORT Page 7 TENNIS / QATAR TOTAL OPEN BERTENS RARING TO GO Dutch fifth seed has not played competitively since Ooredoo to be Silver Sponsor for 2021 Qatar Total Open October courtesy an injury, will face Ostapenko today atar’s leading telecommunica- to supporting events that promote tions operator has announced a healthy, active lifestyle as part our Qit is to reprise its role as Silver corporate social responsibility strat- Sponsor of the Qatar Total Open at egy, and delighted that yet again we this year’s event. can be a part of shining the spotlight The prestigious women’s tennis appear on the courts in the chal- on Qatar as the ideal venue for major tournament is set to be held from 1-6 lenge for the singles trophy, while 16 sporting events. After the challenges March 2021 at Khalifa International teams will compete for top spot in the of the pandemic lockdowns, it’s great Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha. doubles event. to be seeing live sporting events start- An impressive six of the Women’s Sabah Rabiah al-Kuwari, Director PR ing up again and we look forward to Tennis Association’s top 10 players at Ooredoo, said: “We’re delighted to enjoying some awesome tennis from will compete. be sponsoring the Qatar Total Open some of the best female players in the A total of 32 players are expected to for another year, as we’re committed world.” Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens will be participating in the Qatar Total Open for the fourth time. (Reuters) By Yash Mudgal Doha Order of play orld No. 11 Kiki Bertens CENTRE COURT starts at 02:30 PM A. Kerber (GER) vs WC-C. hasn’t competed since last 7-J. Brady (USA) vs A. Kontaveit (EST) Buyukakcay (TUR) year’s French Open, deal- V. Kudermetova (RUS) vs G. M. Sakkari (GRE) vs WC-M. Sherif ing with an injury and also Muguruza (ESP) (EGY) Wundergoing a surgery on her Achilles Not before 6pm tendon in October in Amsterdam. 5-K. Bertens (NED) vs WC-J. COURT B starts at 02:30 PM The Dutch No 1, who has since spent Ostapenko (LAT) 2-L. Siegemund (GER) vs L. her time recuperating in the Nether- S. Kuznetsova (RUS) vs WC-V. Tsurenko (UKR) lands, will make a return in Qatar To- Azarenka (BLR) tal Open, and was feeling good on the COURT 1 starts at 02:30 PM practice court. COURT A starts at 02:30 PM C. Bucsa (ESP) vs L. Zhu (CHN) or “We had a good hitting session yes- 1-J. Pegula (USA) OR A. Potapova 7-Kr. Pliskova (CZE) terday. I am feeling good. I am pain free, (RUS) vs M. Bjorklund (SWE) or 8-M. B. Mattek-Sands (USA) or Y. I am ready and hungry to play some Doi (JPN) Shvedova (KAZ) vs E. Shibahara (JPN) matches in Doha,” said Bertens in a vir- Not before 5pm OR [6] A. Blinkova (RUS) tual press conference yesterday, hoping to build the rhythm and get back at her best for the season. “It was quite tough to see everyone The 29-year-old is defi nitely one play. It was also only the second Grand of the most prolifi c players on the Slam that I missed. And I’m not a huge tour. She has 10 singles titles to her training animal either, I don’t really name, including the Madrid Open and like just training for months. I am a Cincinnati Open. With that, she has competition player. I need practice to also got a pretty healthy record against improve,” she said. many top 10 players. After extensive rehabilitation, “So it’s about to be able to compete This year’s tournament is Bertens’ Bertens is growing in confi dence, even again, see where my level is, get the fourth appearance in Doha. She made as she keeps her approach realistic. match rhythm again and try to en- her Qatar Total Open debut in a rain- “I certainly think I still have the lev- joy my time on the match court again. soaked 2017 opening round, where she el, otherwise I wouldn’t be here at the That’s my fi rst goal.” fell to eventual fi nalist Caroline Woz- moment, but I have to put the things Bertens, who was the fi rst to land in niacki. in perspective. For me, it’s tough to Doha for the WTA 500 Premier compe- After skipping 2018, she returned have any predictions because it’s my tition this year, will face Jelena Ostap- in 2019 to earn her fi rst two Doha vic- fi rst tournament in a long time,” said enko in the fi rst round today, with both tories over Camila Giorgi and 2016 Bertens, whose career-high ranking having won two matches against each champion Carla Suarez Navarro. In was World No 4 in May 2019. other so far. They last met in Strasbourg the quarter-fi nals, she fell to eventual For the fi rst time in ten years, Bertens last year where Ostapenko reached the champion Elise Mertens. Last year, she was in her own country all winter. She quarter-fi nal after Bertens withdrew in was stopped in the round of 16 by Chi- played her last match at the beginning the fi nal set of their round-of-16 game. na’s Zheng Saisai. of October. In the fourth round of Ro- “I love Doha to be honest. We got Bertens ended the 2020 season as land Garros, she lost to Italian Martina here early because I have to play out- World No. 9, her third time fi nishing in Trevisan. Earlier in the tournament, doors again, which is a huge diff er- the top-10, having won a title in St Pe- Bertens was big news, when she left the ence as I practised only indoors with tersburg and reaching the fourth round track in a wheelchair after her victory my coach Elise the last few weeks,” she of the Australian Open and the French against Sara Errani. said. Open. Gulf Times 2 Monday, March 1, 2021 SPORT TENNIS / QATAR TOTAL OPEN FOCUS Australia’s Popyrin wins fi rst ATP title in Winning in Doha Singapore AFP semi-fi nals, was delighted with Singapore his breakthrough. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to know I have won my fi rst ATP ti- ustralia’s Alexei Popy- tle,” he said. would be special, rin came back from a “I always have the belief that I set down to beat Ka- can compete against the top guys zakhstan’s Alexander and without that belief, I would The Tunisian is the highest ABublik at the Singapore Open not be able to win an ATP title. yesterday and win his fi rst ATP It’s a good start and hopefully I ranked Arab player in the Tour title. can build on this result.” Popyrin started off badly, los- He added that Bublik “was history of women’s tennis ing the fi rst set 4-6 but charged mentally up and down so I just says Jabeur back and snatched the second had to keep my head level and 6-0. weather the storm when he was By Yash Mudgal Bublik put up more of a fi ght at playing well in the fi rst set. I was Doha the start of the third, with both not scared — I knew I was play- men holding their serve until it ing well”. reached 2-2. In the doubles fi nals, the for- orld No. 31 Ons But Popyrin then surged ahead, midable partnership between Jabeur has become fi ring a total of 11 aces, to take the Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen the toast of Arab set 6-2 and clinch the title. proved too strong for Austral- tennis world in the The 21-year-old, who had ia’s Matthew Ebden and John- Wlast three years and she is enjoy- earlier stunned former world Patrick Smith as the Belgians ing it to the fullest. number three Marin Cilic in the won comfortably 6-2, 6-3. And she is excited to be back in Doha – her “favourite” place — for the Qatar Total Open. “Doha is among my favour- ite places. I love to play here as I have always received a lot of crowd support here. It’s amaz- ing. Last year so many people were cheering for me and I love playing in front of my fans,” the Tunisian told the media before the tournament yesterday. “The support I’ve received while playing in these tourna- ments is amazing. That’s one of the reasons I love coming back to Doha,” she said. The highest-ranked player Arab ever in the history of wom- en’s tennis, Jabeur also became the fi rst Arab woman to reach the quarter-fi nals of a Grand Slam when she made it to the last eight in the Australian Open in 2020. Jabeur’s eye-catching per- formance, however, did not Ons Jabeur of Tunisia became the first Arab woman to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam when she made it to the last eight in the 2020 come overnight as the 26-year- Australian Open. (WTA) old had been making impressive strides on the Tour over the past in Doha or the UAE.