Angelique Kerber, who had a first-round bye, made a disappointing return to tournament tennis after her Australian Open championship by losing, 7-5, 6-1, to Zheng Saisai in the second round at the Qatar Open in Doha. The tournament also lost its second-seeded player when Simona Halep, the 2014 champion, was beaten by the qualifier Elena Vesnina, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-1.
u25a0 Second-seeded Stan Wawrinka beat Sergiy Stakhovsky, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, to reach the second round of the Dubai Championships in the United Arab Emirates. Third-seeded Tomas Berdych advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Joao Sousa.