WTA Qatar Open: Swiatek top seed but Rybakina starts favourite as Doha draw is unveiled
Iga Swiatek will be gunning for her first title of the season while Elena Rybakina will be aiming to continue her hot streak. Both of them will be hoping to fend off a host of challengers for the WTA Qatar Open title, which begins on Sunday
Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek, Australian Open 2026
Image Credit: Zuma / Psnewz/ Imago/ Tennis Majors
Iga Swiatek may be the top seed in the WTA Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2026 draw but second seed Elena Rybakina, coming off her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last week, will start in Doha as the clear favourite.
Rybakina, back up to No. 3 following her triumph in Melbourne, has won 14 of her last 15 matches on the tour while Swiatek is looking for her first title of the season. The two have split their 12 career meetings but the Kazakh has won their last two, at the WTA Finals in November and the Australian Open last week. A 13th chapter in their rivalry will have to wait until the final in Doha next Saturday but there are plenty of players in the draw — which took place on Friday in the presence of Emma Navarro, Maria Sakkari, Zeynep Sonmez and Tatjana Maria — who will be hoping to take a finals berth away from the top two seeds.
Let’s break down the draw quarter by quarter.
First Quarter: Projected Quarter-Final (1) Iga Swiatek vs (6) Jasmine Paolini
After a first-round bye, Swiatek will face the rising Indonesian Janice Tjen or the soon-to-retire Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the round of 32. The Pole is drawn to meet 16th seed Elise Mertens in the third round but the Belgian will have to navigate a difficult section that includes former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and former top-10 player Daria Kasatkina.
Paolini, seeded sixth, will face either former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari or Turkish wildcard Zeynep Sonmez, who were both sitting next to one another at the draw ceremony and ended up being drawn to meet in the first round. The Italian has a tough potential third round clash against ninth seed Linda Noskova, who will have to battle rising Aussie teenager Maya Joint in the opening round.
Second Quarter: Projected Quarter-Final (3) Amanda Anisimova vs (7) Elina Svitolina
Anisimova, who reached two Grand Slam finals in 2025, returns to Doha as the defending champion. The American will face former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova or a qualifier in the second round and could meet the crafty Karolina Muchova, seeded 14th, in the last16. Alexandra Eala, who has firmly entrenched herself as one of the biggest draw cards in the women’s game right now, will hope to play spolier in this section as she opens against a qualifier before a potential second-round clash against Muchova.
Svitolina, back in the top 10 after a semi-final run in Melbourne, is scheduled to face 12th seed Emma Navarro in the third round. The American was drawn to play Germany’s Tatjana Maria in the opening round, marking a rare occasion on which four players attending the draw ceremony were picked to play one another.
Third Quarter: Projected Quarter-Final (4) Coco Gauff vs (8) Ekaterina Alexandrova
With the resurgence of Rybakina, Coco Gauff comes in slightly under the radar compared with a few months ago. The American will be hoping to put together a good run in the Middle East before heading home for the Indian Wells-Miami double. Gauff will face countrywoman McCartney Kessler or French wildcard Elsa Jacquemot in the second round and could meet 13th seed Liudmila Samsonova or Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the third round.
Gauff is drawn to meet Ekaterina Alexandrova, the eighth seed, in the quarter-finals. The Russian, who is playing in the Abu Dhabi semi-finals today, will have a tough opening assignment against last year’s runner-up Jelena Ostapenko or former world No. 3 Paula Badosa. This section also has 11th seed Clara Tauson, into the semi-finals in Abu Dhabi this week, and Britain’s Emma Raducanu in the mix.
Fourth Quarter: Projected Quarter-Final (2) Elena Rybakina vs (5) Mirra Andreeva
Rybakina, with a second Grand Slam title in her bag and her coach back in her box, will start in Doha as the favourite. The Kazakh will face Emiliana Arango or Zinyu Wang in the second round and could meet Diana Shnaider in the third round. Shnaider will need to beat a qualifier before a tough second-round clash against Paris Olympics gold medallist Qinwen Zheng, who will be playing her first tournament since September, or former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the second round.
Rybakina’s projected quarter-final rival is Mirra Andreeva. The Russian will face Polish veteran Magda Linetter or a qualifier in the second round before a clash against fellow teenager Victoria Mboko, seeded 10th, in the third round. Two-time Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejcikova is also in this section of the draw.
