Coco Gauff crashes out of Doha opener against Katerina Siniakova

Coco Gauff’s post-Australian Open return to action abruptly ended in her opening round at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open as unseeded Katerina Siniakova ousted the US Open champion, 6-2, 6-4.

Gauff was last on court in Melbourne, where she reached a second straight major semifinal, but was undone by numerous unforced errors and Siniakova, a fellow former WTA doubles No. 1, took full advantage and served out the upset over the No. 2 seed in 80 minutes flat on Center Court.

The 19-year-old had enjoyed an unbeaten start to her 2024 season, winning her seventh career WTA title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, and extended her Grand Slam main-draw winning streak to 12 in a row before bowing out of the Australian Open to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.

After receiving a bye into the second round, Gauff had to hit the ground running against Siniakova, who eased through her first match against Donna Vekic in straight sets.

Gauff visibly struggled to adjust to the Tuesday evening conditions, striking 25 unforced errors in the first set alone—14 off her forehand side—and dropping serve three times to hand Siniakova the early advantage.

As coach Brad Gilbert looked on, Gauff appeared to have righted the ship in the second set as she raced to a 4-0 lead. The experienced Siniakova nonetheless made the American fight for a decider and drew more errors as she reeled off the next six games.

Serving for a spot in the third round, Siniakova secured the upset with one last forehand miss from Gauff—her 30th off that wing on the day.

Standing between Siniakova and a first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since the 2018 China Open will be Gauff’s countrywoman Danielle Collins. Collins, planning to make 2024 her final season on tour, edged past Siniakova’s fellow Czech Marie Bouzkova in straight sets earlier in the afternoon.