Danilina and Krunić beat Mladenovic and Fernandez to reach Qatar Open quarterfinals

Photo: Wtaqataropen.com

On Feb. 11, Kazakhstani tennis player Anna Danilina (World doubles No. 10), paired with Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunić (No. 13), won their opening match at the WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open. The 2026 Australian Open runners-up defeated France’s Kristina Mladenovic (No. 70) and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez (No. 80) 6-2, 4-6, 10-4.

Danilina and Krunić received a first-round bye, while their opponents advanced after beating China’s Wang Xinyu (No. 29) and Zheng Saisai (No. 92).

In the beginning of the match, the Kazakh-Serbian duo’s dominance was evident. They broke in the third and seventh games, winning the set 6-2.

The second set opened with exchanged breaks, with Fernandez and Mladenovic securing another in the fourth game. Trailing 1-4, Danilina and Krunić rallied to level the score but later lost two consecutive games, 4-6.

The match super tiebreak swung back and forth. Fernandez and Mladenovic took a 3-0 lead but were unable to hold it. In the closing stages, the Kazakh-Serbian duo completed the match 6-2, 4-6, 10-4 in 1 hour and 19 minutes.

To advance to the semifinal, Danilina and Krunić will face the Australian duo of Storm Hunter (No. 28) and Maya Joint (No. 37).

The WTA Qatar Open — currently known as the Qatar TotalEnergies Open — was established in 2001. The total prize money for the current outdoor hard-court tournament is $4,088,211. The singles champion will receive $385,000, while $110,000 will be shared by the winning doubles pair.