Amanda Anisimova’s title defence at the Qatar Open ended in a disappointing opening-round retirement — and the 24-year-old is now set to lose her US No 1 status as a result.
Twelve months ago, Anisimova kickstarted her landmark 2025 season with her run to a first WTA 1000 title in Doha, defeating Jelena Ostapenko in the final.
That run propelled the American inside the top 20 of the WTA Rankings, and an incredible year since then saw Anisimova enter this year’s tournament as the world No 4 and third seed.
The 24-year-old was among the leading contenders for the title, though her campaign has now ended in shock fashion against former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova.
Despite claiming a tight opening set, Anisimova was unable to fend off Pliskova, who is returning to tour after a lengthy injury absence.
And, the Czech was leading 5-7, 7-6(3), 4-1 when Anisimova was forced to retire from the contest, her title defence coming to an end at the first hurdle.
“Definitely, I think this is not how we want to win, although I felt like we played good tennis throughout those [first] two sets,” said Pliskova, speaking on court.
“It went long, so you start to feel it a little bit in the body — I also feel it a bit — luckily I’m through to the next round, but hopefully she’s gonna be OK for next week.”
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How will Anisimova’s exit affect her ranking?
As the defending champion, Anisimova had a staggering 1,000 ranking points to defend in Doha this year, with the world No 4 currently just ahead of compatriots Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the WTA Rankings.
However, with only 10 ranking points on offer for players who exit the WTA 1000 event in their opening match, the 24-year-old will now drop a staggering 990 points.
That means that Anisimova will have 5,690 points when the WTA Rankings update next week, and ensures that Gauff will regain her US No 1 ranking.
Gauff currently has 6,423 points in the WTA Live Rankings and will be ahead of Anisimova regardless of her result, with a maximum of 7,413 points should she win the title.
Meanwhile, world No 5 Pegula has withdrawn from this week’s event, but her WTA Live Rankings points total of 5,953 points means she will also be ranked ahead of Anisimova next week.
The good news for Anisimova is that she cannot drop any further in the WTA Rankings, with no other player able to overtake her live points total — even if they were to win the title in Doha.
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