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Gauff and Pegula Repeat as Doha Doubles Champions

Gauff and Pegula Repeat as Doha Doubles Champions

The dynamic duo claims their fourth title as a tandem. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday February 17, 2023

Jessica Pegula will be going for the double on Saturday in Doha.

Pegula and her familiar sidekick Coco Gauff claimed the doubles title on Friday with a 6-4, 2-6 10-7 triumph over second-seeded Jelena Ostapenko and Nadia Kichenok.

Tennis Express

The victory marked a successful title defense for the American tandem. Pegula claims her sixth career title; Gauff claims her seventh. The pair have won four titles together as a tandem, adding this year’s Doha title to last year’s – they also claimed trophies at Toronto and San Diego in 2022, as well as reaching the final at Roland-Garros.


Gauff and Pegula only dropped one set en route to the title.

Pegula will face Iga Swiatek in Saturday’s final at Doha.

Dubai-Born Bojica Makes History with DDFT Win

Dubai-Born Bojica Makes History with DDFT Win

Seventeen-year-old Stefania Bojica is first female born and raised in the UAE to play Dubai – and beats World No. 63 Danka Kovinic in her qualifying opener.
There's no place like home.

Seventeen-year-old Stefania Bojica celebrated historic homecoming with triumphant tears of joy.

More: Jessica Pegula Shares Story of Mom Kim Pegula Suffering Cardiac Arrest

The first UAE-born woman to compete in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Bojica burst into the history books by defeating world No.63 Danka Kovinic, 6-3, 7-6(2) in her qualifying opener today. She is the first homegrown player to earn a win at the tournament.

Born in Dubai to Romanian parents, Bojica only learned she received a qualifying wild card on Thursday evening, yet she did not look out of place against a 28-year-old opponent who has reached four WTA singles finals.

Tennis Express

Cheered on by a vocal crowd willing to brave the midmorning sun on Court 3 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Bojica overcame an experienced 11 years her senior to book a place in Saturday’s second round of qualifying.

“I was a little bit emotional,” said Bojica, who burst into tears in the arms of her coach Andreu Gimeno immediately after exiting the court. “I still can’t process in my mind that I got my first WTA win. I’m so happy.

"The crowd was helping me a lot to motivate me to keep going. Today represents an open door – I can see now that I can compete at this level. I still need to work hard, keep progressing, and getting better, but this has been amazing.”

Bojica, who first started playing at the age of four and trains with the CF Tennis Academy, made her WTA debut earlier this month in Abu Dhabi, where she fell in straight sets to American Claire Liu, then ranked World No.52.

In Dubai, perhaps with that on her mind, she started a little nervously, dropping her first service game before powering back to race into a 5-2 lead, playing confidently from the baseline, and saving six out of seven breakpoints.

Facing a 2-5 second-set deficit, Bojica showed her resilience with a comeback, closing the historic victory on a Kovinic double fault.

“I felt I had nothing to lose,” added Bojica, who will now face Katarina Zavatska on Saturday morning in the second round of qualifying. “I felt I had no pressure as I was playing against someone with a much better ranking than me, so I came on the court with the aim of playing my best tennis and thankfully that’s what I did.”

Coach Gimeno, a director at the CF Tennis Academy and first-born son of 1972 French Open winner Andres Gimeno, said he was feeling mixed emotions after watching the coming-of-age of a young woman he has been working with since she was just five.

“To see her on the court performing as she did today makes me very proud,” said an emotional Gimeno. “During the game I was trying to keep her calm when the match was not going in her favor.

"Stefi kept the right tension and recovered the momentum to take it to 5-5. At that moment, I started to believe we had a chance because she served very well. When it went to the tiebreak, she was more relaxed, which was crucial.”

The women’s event at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships was first held in 2001 and has grown into a WTA 1000 event with a prize purse of $2.9 million.

Salah Tahlak, Joint COO and Tournament Director, formerly a director of the UAE Tennis Federation, has regularly given wildcard opportunities to locally trained players.

“Huge congratulations are in order to Stefania and her entire coaching team,” Tahlak said “To see her make history today by becoming the first female born and raised in the UAE to play in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – and to win against an opponent ranked so highly in the WTA Rankings – is a very special moment for everyone.

"It is proof of the fantastic work being done here in the UAE in terms of developing the game from a grassroots level and creating a pathway to a professional sporting career. We wish her all the best for the rest of the tournament.”

Tickets for the 31st edition of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships are on sale now at dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com, starting from Dh55

Photo credit: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Felix, Medvedev Cruise Into Rotterdam QFs

Defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev have set a blockbuster quarter-final showdown at the ABN AMRO Open after comfortable second-round victories Thursday.

Third-seeded Auger-Aliassime served nine aces in a 6-4, 6-3 win over French qualifier Gregoire Barrere. But the Canadian will look to improve his lackluster 50 per cent first-serve percentage before coming up against Medvedev.

[ATP APP]

Medvedev saved all six break points faced in his 6-2, 6-2 win over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

Medvedev has won all four of his meetings with Felix, but three have gone the distance, including a 2022 Australian Open quarter-final meeting, in which Medvedev rallied from two sets down to win. The World No. 11 is expecting another close battle.

“The further you go, normally the higher-ranked players you play,” Medvedev said. “Felix is a top player. He won here last year and played amazing at the end of last year. Looking forward to a tough match and hopefully I can be at my best.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

“The harder your opponent, the more you’re going to feel you have to play better. He’s going to take his opportunities. He’s going to go for it when he has the chance. I will need to be at my best.”

Alex de Minaur escaped Montpellier finalist Maxime Cressy 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. The 23-year-old backed up his straight-sets upset over second seed Andrey Rublev with a clean performance, committing just nine unforced errors to Cressy’s 33.

In the final set, de Minaur converted one of two break points to pull away from serve-and-volleyer Cressy, who didn’t have any break chances in the decider. De Minaur will next take on Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals. The Australian leads their ATP Head2Head 2-1.

Hunter Steps in to Stop Buck From Harassing Exhausted Doe to Death

Hunter Steps in to Stop Buck From Harassing Exhausted Doe to Death


Buck Harasses Doe

The rut is unquestionably every deer herd’s most stressful time of the year, as bucks are hopped up on a surplus of testosterone, relentlessly harassing does as they seek suitors. As soon as they finally take a break from chasing does, they have other bucks attempting to establish their dominance by fighting off any and […]

The post Hunter Steps in to Stop Buck From Harassing Exhausted Doe to Death appeared first on Wide Open Spaces.

300 PRC Ammo: Frequently Asked Questioned Answered, Plus Our Top Picks

300 PRC Ammo: Frequently Asked Questioned Answered, Plus Our Top Picks


300 PRC Ammo

More hunters than ever are picking up rifles chambered for the 300 PRC (precision rifle cartridge) these days. It makes total sense. The long-range centerfire round has proved itself both on the competitive shooting range and in the field on North America’s largest big game animals time and again since it was first introduced in […]

The post 300 PRC Ammo: Frequently Asked Questioned Answered, Plus Our Top Picks appeared first on Wide Open Spaces.

The Best Ear Protection for Shooting Skeet, Birds, and Big Game

The Best Ear Protection for Shooting Skeet, Birds, and Big Game


Shooting Ear Protection

The importance of ear protection truly can’t be emphasized enough. Whether you’re shooting skeet, bird hunting, or are in the back country pursuing big game, it’s imperative that you wear the right protection to prevent damage to your eardrums. This can be applied to even those who aren’t shooting but are just nearby the shots. […]

The post The Best Ear Protection for Shooting Skeet, Birds, and Big Game appeared first on Wide Open Spaces.

Hunter Downs 3 Bucks in 35 Seconds During Fast-Paced Deer Drive

Hunter Downs 3 Bucks in 35 Seconds During Fast-Paced Deer Drive


three deer

As hard as it is to harvest a buck at any given time of the season–many hunters finish the year empty-handed despite sharp, methodical strategies–it’s unquestionably harder to take more than one. When you consider that the hunter in the following clip was able to ethically take three in one day is simply mind-boggling. What’s […]

The post Hunter Downs 3 Bucks in 35 Seconds During Fast-Paced Deer Drive appeared first on Wide Open Spaces.

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