Hobart's Revenge

Elisabetta Cocciaretto, world No. 57, is living a true fairy tale in Doha. Knocked out in the final round of qualifying by Varvara Gracheva, she was given a second chance as a lucky loser before pulling off one of the biggest feats of her career by sweeping aside world No. 5 Coco Gauff (6-4, 6-2). For her very first appearance in the round of 16 of a WTA 1000, the Italian seems carried by an invisible force. As a fun fact, she admitted she’s been glued to her screen all week following the Alpine skiing events of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. She regularly FaceTimes her close friend Sofia Goggia (bronze medalist in the downhill) to talk about managing fear and total commitment, a skier’s mindset she has perfectly transposed onto the tennis court.

The peak of her performance against Gauff came during an absolutely stratospheric 33-shot rally, probably the most spectacular exchange of the season so far. Elisabetta finally made the American crack with a down-the-line backhand after covering a phenomenal distance. At the end of this grueling point, she emphatically pointed her finger to her temple, a gesture showing that her mental strength had become an unbreachable safe. Across the net, Ann Li, world No. 41, is also having a flawless tournament. The American has yet to drop a set, having successively dominated Leylah Fernandez and Magdalena Fręch. After two years of physical struggles that pushed her out of the top 200, she is finally reaping the rewards of her work with Carlos Boluda, displaying an unshakable calm and a devastating forehand.

The head-to-head between the two players stands at 1-1, their last meeting dating back to a month ago in Hobart, where Cocciaretto prevailed in a nail-biter (1-6, 7-5, 7-5) after Li had served for the match. Conditions in Doha today are ideal, with a very light wind (12 km/h), which should allow Ann Li to fully impose her power game. However, Elisabetta is playing with the kind of freedom you only see in someone who almost never made it here. If the Italian manages to reproduce the defensive intensity and mental clarity she showed against Gauff, she will be a real nightmare for Li. This match is a clash between a player who hardly misses anything and another who tries to blow everything apart with her power; the key will lie in handling the pressure moments, an area where Cocciaretto seems to have reached a higher level.