Qatar Open: No 1 seed Iga Swiatek loses to unseeded Maria Sakkari as Victoria Mboko shocks Elena Rybakina
World No 2 Iga Swiatek suffers defeat to Maria Sakkari in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open as Victoria Mboko shocks Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina; watch ATP and WTA Tours live on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky Sports+, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app
Thursday 12 February 2026 23:05, UK
World No 2 Iga Swiatek has been dumped out of the Qatar Open after losing 2-6 6-4 7-5 to Maria Sakkari in a shock quarter-final upset.
Swiatek - the top seed in the competition - got off to a routine start in a dominant 33-minute first set, but the world No 52 Sakkari battled back, forcing a decider as she claimed her first set in five matches against the Pole.
Sakkari was made to pay for a missed match point at 5-2 in the deciding set when Swiatek won three straight games to bring the match back to level.
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Her opponent, though, held her own serve and then claimed the crucial break in the final game to book her place in the semi-finals, breaking Swiatek's staggering 109-0 record in WTA matches where she had won the first set.
The Greek will next face the winner of the quarter-final between Karolina Muchova and Anna Kalinskaya as she looks to win a third WTA singles title and first since 2023.
Resilient Mboko snaps Rybakina's winning streak
Victoria Mboko sent Elena Rybakina packing and ended her winning streak at nine straight matches in a 7-5 4-6 6-4 victory over the Australian Open champion.
The Canadian, underdog to the in-form Rybakina, shocked her by winning four straight games to snatch the opening set after trailing 3-5.
A more routine 6-4 second set seemed to settle the Kazakh's nerves, and Rybakina looked very much the favourite when leading 4-2 in the deciding set.
But Mboko, miraculously, repeated her first-set heroics and won four straight games once more to see out the match.
The Canadian will face Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-final tomorrow, live on Sky Sports.
De Minaur downs Wawrinka in straight sets at Rotterdam Open
At the Rotterdam Open, Alex de Minaur is on course for a third successive final at the tournament, after beating Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-2 in the round of 16.
The Australian No 1 looked confident throughout a straightforward encounter, only being broken once in both sets on his way to a dominant victory.
De Minaur will face Botic van de Zandschulp on his opponents' home soil in the quarter-finals after the Dutchman notched his own impressive win against Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 7-6 (7-4).
