Tennis winners' circle of the week: Jasmine Paolini claims biggest title of her career, Karen Khachanov triumphs in Doha | Feb 19-25
Jasmine Paolini and Karen Khachanov were among the tennis players who won over the past week as they triumphed in Dubai and Doha, respectively.
Paolini won her maiden WTA 1000 title at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was unseeded. The Italian ousted 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, Leylah Fernandez and eighth seed Maria Sakkari to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament where her opponent was Elena Rybakina.
The Kazakhstani withdrew due to illness, thus giving Paolini a place in the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event for the very first time in her career. Here, she faced Sorana Cirstea and beat her 6-2, 7-6(6) to book her place in the final.
Paolini was up against Anna Kalinskaya in the championship match who previously beat two Top-3 players: Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff, in the semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively. Kalinskaya won the opening set 6-4 but the Italian bounced back to win the next two sets 7-5, 7-5 and clinch the biggest title of her tennis career so far. She thus climbed to 14th in the WTA rankings.
Meanwhile, Karen Khachanov was the second seed at the Qatar Open in Doha and thus, received a bye to the second round. He beat Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals, which he won after his opponent Emil Ruusuvuori retired early in the opening set.
The Russian faced Alexei Popyrin in the semifinals and won a tight opening set 7-6(12) before dominating the Aussie 6-2 in the second set to reach his first final of 2024. He was up against Jakub Mensik here, who was playing the first final of his career after defeating the likes of Andy Murray and Gael Monfils.
Once again, the opening set was a tight tiebreaker and Khachanov won it 7-6(12) to take the lead in the match. The Russian then clinched the second set 6-4 to win the sixth title of his career and the first, where he did not drop a single set in the process. Khachanov thus climbed three spots to 14h in the ATP rankings.
Jordan Thompson won the maiden title of his tennis career in Los Cabos
Jordan Thompson also had a memorable week due to his exploits at the Los Cabos Open in Mexico. Seeded eighth at the tournament, the Aussie reached the quarterfinals following straight-set wins over Ernesto Escobedo and Emilio Nava.
Here, Thompson was up against Alex Michelsen and came back from a bagel to register a 0-6, 7-6(1), 7-5 win and set up a semifinal clash against top seed Alexander Zverev. Thompson produced a fine performance to stun the German 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) to reach the final.
The Aussie triumphed 6-3, 7-6(4) over fourth seed Casper Ruud in the championship match to win his maiden ATP singles title.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Baez won the first ATP 500 title of his tennis career at the Rio Open by thrashing compatriot Mariano Navone 6-2, 6-1.