Wozniacki advances in Doha, but not without drama

The "old" Mona Barthel showed up today in Doha to compete against Caroline Wozniacki,. Barthel waw carelessly hitting the ball, and appeared to put insufficient thought into making her shots. She made repeated forehand errors. Wozniacki defeated her 7-6, 6-3.

The match, unfortunately, will be remembered more for the antics of some people rather than the tennis. Wozniacki's supporters were constantly calling balls out, and the chair umpire made no effort at all to get them to change their behavior. At one point--when a second serve by Barthel was called out by someone in the crowd, and the umpire correctly called it good (it was break point)--Wozniacki argued with the umpire, who had (correctly) given Barthel the point. Then Wozniacki's coach/father, Piotr, began to argue with the umpire from the stands. A member of the security staff approached him and spoke to him. It would seem that Wozniacki (the father) would have been asked to leave, but he was permitted to stay.

After this unpleasant interlude, the umpire reversed herself and called for a replay of the point. Barthel never said a word, and she did win the replayed point. But the whole thing was way too much drama, and the chair umpire didn't display much authority. As for Wozniacki--she can't get through a match without having a big argument with the umpire.

Petra Kvitova beat Nadia Petrova 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Sam Stosur beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, and top seed Victoria Azarenka beat Christina McHale 6-0, 6-0. Ouch.

Also advancing were Maria Sharapova, Sara Errani, Serena Williams, and Agnieszka Radwanska. In doubles, the reunited team of Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur advanced to the third round.