Tuesday at the Qatar Total Open waved goodbye to top seed Angelique Kerber, while soon afterwards second seed Simona Halep lost to qualifier Elena Vesnina in a grueling match that lasted two hours and twenty-one minute and in which the Romanian wasted a set and 4-2 lead.
The first set was long and undecided. After an exchange of breaks early on, the fifth game lasted 12 minutes and 12 seconds, Vesnina saved six break points and kept the match on serve. After the second exchange of breaks in the eleventh and twelfth games, the set went into a tiebreak which Halep won comfortably.