Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin lost her opening match for the second week in a row as Dayana Yastremska defeated the American 6-3, 7-6 (4) Tuesday at the Qatar Open.
Kenin has yet to win a WTA Tour match since earning her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne after going out in the opening round in Dubai last week. She was given a bye into the second round in Doha, but lost to an opponent that also beat her at Wimbledon last year.
“I just feel like I can't find my game, I'm not playing the way I want to be playing, so it's pretty frustrating right now,” Kenin said. “Obviously coming off of Melbourne where I felt I was playing the best tennis of my life coming down to playing, not the worst tennis, but not playing the tennis I want to be playing.”
Top-ranked Ash Barty cruised past Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-2, while No. 3 Karolina Pliskova ousted Bernarda Pera of the United States 6-3, 6-0.
Fourth-seeded Belinda Bencic and Petra Kvitova also advanced.
