Doha: Caroline Wozniacki failed to convert three match points as she was ousted by Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in her opening match at the Qatar Open on Wednesday. Wozniacki, playing her first match since losing the No. 1 ranking after the Australian Open, received a bye into the second round. She had all three match points in the 10th game of the third set....
01:30 PM, Feb 16, 2012
Doha: Seeded players Sabine Lisicki and Daniela Hantuchova lost in the opening round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday after holding one-set leads. Angelique Kerber overcame a stomach bug to defeat the ninth-seeded Lisicki 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in an all-German match, and Simona Halep of Romania downed the 15th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) after 2 hours, 32 minutes. Kerber, a US Open semi-finalist who won her...
10:33 PM, Feb 15, 2012
Doha: Serbia's Ana Ivanovic advanced to the second round of the Qatar Open on Monday when Carla Suarez Navarro withdrew midway through their match because of a back injury. Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion, was leading 6-1, 4-1. Trailing 1-2 in the second set, Suarez Navarro had already sought courtside treatment from the WTA Tour medical team. The Spaniard then briefly left the court before resuming the set. "It...
03:22 PM, Feb 14, 2012
Dubai: Wimbledon Open champion Petra Kvitova has pulled out of the Qatar Ladies Open because of an unspecified injury. The Czech is ranked second and would have been seeded second in the tournament that starts on Monday. Tournament organizers say they have no information on Kvitova's injury. Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka is the top-seeded player while the tournament also includes defending champion Vera Zvonareva, 2011 finalist Caroline Wozniacki and...
02:47 PM, Feb 12, 2012
New York: Caroline Wozniacki is keeping her dad as coach. The former top-ranked player fired coach Ricardo Sanchez last week after just two months on the job. She said during a conference call on Friday from Doha, Qatar, that she's been coached by her father, Piotr, "for a very long time" and "right now, it's the best thing." She won't need much coaching at the BNP Paribas Showdown on March...
02:43 PM, Feb 12, 2012
On this week's episode of Overdrive, we bring to you the latest from Middle East's premier auto show Qatar Motorshow. ...
07:57 PM, Feb 11, 2012
Dubai/Mumbai: Two major Gulf Arab carriers said they have no interest in taking a stake in struggling Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines, which is grappling with a pile of debt and on the hunt for fresh equity. Abu Dhabi's state-owned Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways said on Thursday they were not inclined to invest in Kingfisher. Sources in India familiar with the matter told Reuters that Kingfisher was in early talks...
10:59 PM, Feb 09, 2012
Doha: SSP Chowrasia fired four birdies on the back nine as he recovered from an early triple bogey to finish tied 47th after carding two-under 70 in the final round of the Qatar Masters here on Sunday. Chowrasia, who had been struggling with his form for the last one year had made the cut with two birdies in last three holes and on Sunday he was three-over with a triple...
08:37 PM, Feb 05, 2012
United Nations: The Arab League chief and the Qatari prime minister will present an Arab peace plan for Syria to ambassadors in the UN Security Council in New York early next week, the council president said on Thursday. South Africa's UN Ambassador Baso Sangqu told reporters in New York that the meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim...
04:56 AM, Jan 27, 2012
Melbourne: Roger Federer's remarkable run of appearing at every Grand Slam since 2000 was closer to ending than ever after a back injury at the Qatar Open earlier this month threw his Australian Open participation into doubt. The 30-year-old Swiss withdrew from the Doha tournament before his semi-final against France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. "I could barely play," said Federer, who will be going for a 17th Grand Slam victory in Melbourne....
03:30 PM, Jan 14, 2012
Melbourne: Kim Clijsters has been cleared of major damage to her hip and expressed guarded optimism on Saturday about recovering in time for the defence of her Australian Open title. Belgian Clijsters, who beat China's Li Na to win at Melbourne Park last year, retired hurt during her semi-final against Daniela Hantuchova at the Brisbane International on Friday, complaining of tightness in her hip. An MRI scan had diagnosed a...
01:18 PM, Jan 08, 2012
Doha: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga shrugged off a slow start to down Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-3 in an all-French final at the Qatar Open on Saturday. The sixth-ranked Tsonga, who reached the final when Roger Federer withdrew with an injury, fell behind 3-1 then found his rhythm, coming to the net more often and reeling off the final four games to win the first set. The momentum carried over into the second...
11:55 PM, Jan 07, 2012
Brisbane: Serena Williams has a badly sprained left ankle, Roger Federer an aching back and Kim Clijsters a sore left hip. Add in a limping-but-"I'll be OK" Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal playing with a sore left shoulder from the end of last season and the advance tournaments for the Australian Open are beginning to look like a star-studded hospital waiting room. Williams' injury seems to be the most serious of...
11:46 AM, Jan 07, 2012
Doha: Gael Monfils upset Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4 on Friday in the semi-finals of the Qatar Open to line up an unexpected all-French final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after Roger Federer pulled out of the tournament with back spasms. Monfils, who had only beaten Nadal once before in nine meetings, used a strong first serve and chased down nearly every shot. "I just played my game," said Monfils, who defeated Viktor...
10:01 AM, Jan 07, 2012
Doha: Defending champion Roger Federer pulled out of his semifinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Qatar Open because of a back injury on Friday. However, the 16-time Grand Slam champion says he expects to be ready for the Australian Open, which starts on January 16. In a news conference 30 minutes before his match, Federer said his back had not improved since beating Andreas Seppi in three sets on...
08:19 PM, Jan 06, 2012
Doha: Defending champion Roger Federer was tested for the first time on Thursday at the Qatar Open before defeating Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals. The third-ranked Federer set up a rematch of last year's semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, after the Frenchman cruised past unseeded Albert Ramos of Spain 6-2, 6-1. Rafael Nadal also reached the semi-finals, playing some of his best tennis this week...
05:11 AM, Jan 06, 2012
Doha: Roger Federer extended his winning run to 19 matches with an easy victory at the Qatar Open Wednesday on while long-time rival Rafael Nadal was equally impressive in reaching the quarter-finals. Federer, seeded second, routed Slovenia's Grega Zemlja 6-2, 6-3 in an hour, dropping just 11 points in nine service games. "I'm happy to come through matches easily at the beginning of the season, because it can be tricky...
08:07 AM, Jan 05, 2012
Kabul: President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday Afghanistan agrees with US efforts to talk with the Taliban, and the insurgent group's plan to open an office in Qatar, because they could prevent further conflict and the deaths of innocent civilians. The Afghan Taliban said on Tuesday they had reached a preliminary agreement to set up a political office in the Gulf nation of Qatar and asked for the release of...
01:53 AM, Jan 05, 2012
Doha: Rafael Nadal struggled past Philipp Kohlschreiber while Qatar Open defending champion Roger Federer routed Nikolay Davydenko in their season-openers on Tuesday. The second-ranked Nadal overcame Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in a match that lasted two-and-a-half hours. Federer, who lost badly to Nadal and No. 1-ranked Novic Djokovic over the weekend at an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, showed he had shaken off the rust by overwhelming...
04:31 AM, Jan 04, 2012
Kabul: The Taliban announced on Tuesday that they will open an office in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar to hold talks with the United States, an unprecedented step toward a peace process that might lead to a winding down of the 10-year war in Afghanistan. Although US and Taliban representatives have met secretly several times over the past year in Europe and the Persian Gulf, this is the first...
02:54 AM, Jan 04, 2012
