Jelena Ostapenko is safely through to the Qatar Open quarterfinals.
Defeating Colombia’s Camila Osorio in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, Ostapenko booked her place in the last eight.
However, while the scoreline was comfortable, their Qatar Open match wasn’t without incident.
During the first game of the match, Osorio struck a beautiful drop shot to move to 40-15.
Serena Williams would finish 2026 ranked — in the world if she came out of retirement
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The 2017 Roland Garros champion was convinced the ball had bounced twice before Osorio made the shot and requested a video review.
Displeased with the result of the review, Ostapenko reacted in true Ostapenko fashion.
Jelena Ostapenko shakes her head after video review’s decision at the Qatar Open
Ostapenko immediately asked the chair umpire, Timo Jansen, to review the call.
Jansen obliged, and after a quick review, announced his decision.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see in the video, it’s confirmed there was only one bounce, 40-15,” he said.
Ostapenko was unconvinced, shaking her head as she looked up to her box.
The Latvian pointed to the frame of her racket, possibly suggesting that was how Osorio hit the ball.
On this occasion, Ostapenko was incorrect, as the footage showed Osorio fairly winning the point.
Finding the humor in the situation, the Colombian exchanged words with the chair umpire during the change of ends.
“You knew that [it wasn’t a double bounce], didn’t you?” said Osorio.
“I know, yeah,” answered Jansen.
Osorio then broke Ostapenko in the next game to take a 2-0 lead in the first set.
Ostapenko regained her composure, though, winning 12 of the next 14 games to advance in Doha.
She’ll now prepare to play Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the quarterfinals.
The world number 24 will be the heavy favorite to win that match, taking on a woman ranked 33 places below her.
It was, however, Cocciaretto, who won their one previous WTA Tour meeting.
- 2024 Birmingham R32 – Elisabetta Cocciaretto defeated Jelena Ostapenko, 6-3, 6-3
The Italian has also picked up some impressive wins this week, proving to be tough to beat in Doha.
In the second round, Cocciaretto beat Coco Gauff in straight sets, making the most of her Lucky Loser spot.
Cocciaretto vs Ostapenko will certainly be one to watch!
Is Jelena Ostapenko now the favorite to win the Qatar Open?
The 2026 Qatar Open has been a bit messy, in all honesty.
For starters, a whole host of big names withdrew from the tournament before the event even started.
2026 Qatar Open withdrawals
- Aryna Sabalenka – replaced by Emiliana Arango
- Jessica Pegula – replaced by Daria Kasatkina
- Belinda Bencic – replaced by Magda Linette
- Madison Keys – replaced by Laura Siegemund
- Naomi Osaka – replaced by Xinyu Wang
- Marta Kostyuk – replaced by Marie Bouzkova
- Iva Jovic – replaced by Katerina Siniakova
- Eva Lys – replaced by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
- Marketa Vondrousova – replaced by Maria Sakkari
- Lois Boisson – replaced by Cristina Bucsa
- Veronika Kudermetova – replaced by Alexandra Eala
Grand Slam champions Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys, Naomi Osaka, and Marketa Vondrousova all dropped out.
Then, 10 of the top-16 seeds failed to reach the third round, suffering shock early exits.
Seeded players who lost early at the Qatar Open
| Seed | Name | Round lost in | Opponent | Score |
| 3 | Amanda Anisimova | 2R | Karolina Pliskova | 7-5, 6-7, 1-4 (RET) |
| 4 | Coco Gauff | 2R | Elisabetta Cocciaretto | 4-6, 2-6 |
| 6 | Jasmine Paolini | 2R | Maria Sakkari | 4-6, 2-6 |
| 8 | Ekaterina Alexandrova | 2R | Jelena Ostapenko | 4-6, 2-6 |
| 9 | Linda Noskova | 2R | Varvara Gracheva | 2-6, 6-2, 5-7 |
| 11 | Clara Tauson | 1R | Katerina Siniakova | 4-6, 1-6 |
| 12 | Emma Navarro | 2R | Anna Kalinskaya | 5-7, 6-2, 2-6 |
| 13 | Lidumilla Samsonova | 1R | Magdalena Frech | 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 |
| 15 | Diana Shnaider | 1R | Alycia Parks | 6-1, 4-6, 6-7 |
| 16 | Elise Mertens | 2R | Daria Kasatkina | 4-6, 0-6 |
The likes of Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek are still in the competition, but that shouldn’t concern Ostapenko.
Ostapenko leads Swiatek 6-0 in their head-to-head, and despite trailing Rybakina, still holds two wins over the Kazakh star.
Furthermore, Ostapenko has a mightily impressive record in Doha.
Which WTA player would benefit the most from playing best-of-five sets?
No player has more wins than the Latvian at the Qatar Open (23), and she is a two-time finalist (2016, 2025).
Only time will tell if she can pick up her first Qatar Open title in 2026…
She won’t want to get too far ahead of herself thinking about the title, though, as she now turns her attention to the quarterfinals and Cocciaretto.
Ostapenko will play Cocciaretto for a spot in the last four on Thursday, February 12.
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