As is customary to major tennis events the less fancied ones are blooded against the favoured or the ranked professionals in the initial days.
Yesterday was such a day at the Qatar Total Open. The second day of the of the $2,818,000 seven-day premier WTA event, witnessed such a phenomenon. Of course, there always are a few blips here and there when the seeded players flounder and even bite dust – that given the nature of the sport that seems to bulking up on muscle and aggression, women’s tennis included.
Caroline Wozniacki, the 13th seeded Danish player was stretched by qualifier Ana Konjuh of Croatia. Fortunately, for Wozniacki, she was stretched but not broken as she endured a first set scare and difficult third set to enter the second round with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
The 25-year old, former World No. 1, may have been a bit rusty on the day, but then she’s just coming out from a keen injury, that had kept her at bay even as her rivals were making hay at the recently concluded Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
However in such situations, senior professional like Wozniacki, often use experience to their advantage. They let go the taxing points, but grab the ones that count.
Yesterday Wozniacki used the same strategy, letting go the first three games to Konjuh in the first set to go down 0-3. She did try to make amends, breaking her opponent in the next and retaining her service later, but that didn’t help much as Wozniacki went down 4-6.
The second set proved to be a cakewalk for the Danish player. She just had to break Konjuh once during the second game and rest was mundane. The result: 6-3.
The final set had all the drama, breaks and counter breaks followed. But Wozniacki had the last laugh. She broke Konjuh in the 11th game and then retained her service in the next to emerge triumphant with 7-5 margin.    
Later Wozniacki did admit to the fact that she made a slow start. “Well, it’s nice to get through. It wasn’t really pretty out there, but a win is a win. And being able to win even if you don’t play or best is better than to lose when you play great. So I’m going to take it.”
“Yeah, she started off much better. I started off really poorly. Just really needed to get myself going,” she added.
“Then I started playing much better in the second set and had a few games there where I felt like my old self. Then it kind of went a bit up and down after that. So definitely (I am) going to try to get a better start tomorrow.”

QOC Sec-Gen Thani al-Kuwari hails Qatar Total Open as one of the biggest in region
HE Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Secretary General Dr Thani bin Abdulrahman al-Kuwari said Qatar Total Open tournament is one of the first and most famous tennis tournaments in the Middle East thanks to the unprecedented participation it garners every year from seeded tennis players.
Al-Kuwari said QOC spares no effort in supporting all federations that organise global tournaments, including Qatar Tennis Federation under the chairmanship of Nasser Ghanim al-Khulaifi.
Speaking to local media yesterday, he urged tennis fans to attend games and enjoy the tournament at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, noting that the top eight seeded players will be in action today.
Asked about the scheduling of major tournaments that are hosted in Doha and time gaps between them, HE Dr al- Kuwari said that, under the directives of HE QOC President Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, it is always taken into consideration to allow enough time between tournaments in order to give an opportunity for organizers to campaign for the respective events and publicize them.
The QOC secretary general called on local media to participate strongly in educating people and inviting them to go to sporting venues, urging them to cooperate with QOC efforts to achieve success in this regard. (QNA)

Key Results
Singles
[9] Roberta Vinci (ITA) bt
Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 6-2, 6-1       
[13] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) bt
Ana Konjuh (CRO) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
[16] Sara Errani (ITA) bt
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
Denisa Allertova (CZE) bt
[15] Elina Svitolina (UKR) 7-5, 6-4
Monica Niculescu (ROU) bt
Sabine Lisicki (GER) 6-2, 6-2
[11] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 6-7, 6-1, 6-3
Doubles:
C Chan / K Marosi (TPE / HUN) bt L Kichenok / N Kichenok (UKR / UKR) 6-2, 6-4
[8] A Klepac / K Srebotnik (SLO / SLO)         bt S Halep / R Olaru (ROU / ROU) 7-5, 6-4