By Richard Pagliaro Monday, February 9, 2026
Photo credit: Bradley Kanaris/GETTY
Karolina Pliskova have always been a career-long rival. Amanda Anisimova.
Pliskova ended Anisimova’s reign at the Total Energy Qatar Open today in a clash of former Doha champions.
After Anisimova retired due to illness, former world No. 1 Pliskova led 5-7, 7-6(3), 4-1.
This was Pliskova’s sixth victory over Anisimova in seven career matches.
World No. 418 Pliskova notched her first top-10 win since 2024 when she beat No. 10 Ons Jabr on Nottingham grass.
Ankle surgery forced Pliskova to miss almost the entire 2025 season, causing her ranking to plummet.
This year, Pliskova reached the third round of the Australian Open, bowing to defending champion Madison Keys.
Pliskova, the 2017 Doha champion, started to use her forehand to find the baseline after trailing 5-7, 0-3 today.
Pliskova began to use this shot to her advantage by hitting her favorite forehand.
Pliskova, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, broke serve and tied the match at 3, eventually tying the match at 15 and forcing a second-set tiebreaker.
Even though the tie was tied at 2, Anisimova missed two consecutive forehands, and then Pliskova hit a forehand to win several set points 6-2.
On the second set point, Pliskova hit a smash.
Anisimova looked breathless at times after a long exchange and took a medical timeout after Pliskova led 2-1 in the third set.
The U.S. Open finalist had her blood pressure checked and then lay on the court for further treatment.
After the game restarted, Pliskova scored with a backhand shot, making the score 3-1.
Pliskova’s baseline forehand was the biggest hit on the court today.
Pliskova hit a forehand from the sideline to chase the score to 4-1.
After that shot, Anisimova walked to the net and exited 2 hours and 22 minutes later. Pliskova to face fellow Czech No. 14 seed Karolina Muchova Next up is 18-year-old Tereza Valentova.
Anisimova, who will lose 1,000 ranking points and drop to No. 6 in the WTA live rankings, is the second high-profile player to retire after undergoing a blood test.
Transylvania Open finalist Emma Raducanu A medical timeout was called to check her blood pressure. After a few minutes, Raducanu left the field. Camila Osorio2-6, 6-4, 2-0. Osorio will face the Czech Republic Katerina Siniakova Next.
Siniakova defeated No. 11 seed Clara Towson 6-4, 6-1.
