Top players’ absences from Dubai and players’ comments in Doha underlined a growing strategy to manage back-to-back WTA 1000 events.

Maria Sakkari, fresh from a semifinal loss to Karolina Muchova, made no secret of how little energy she had for the next tournament. “Right now, I have no energy at all,” joked Maria Sakkari after a semifinal defeat to Karolina Muchova in Doha. “I need food. I need fuel.” Unseeded in both draws and a former world No. 3, Sakkari said she will travel from Doha to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Sunday and, mindful of the quick turnaround, added, “I hope the supervisor puts me on Monday.”

The world’s top two players announced withdrawals from Dubai on Sunday afternoon. “Unfortunately, I am not feeling 100 per cent,” Sabalenka said in a statement. “I hope I will come back next year to experience the great tournament,” Swiatek said after her quarterfinal exit in Doha, the Pole citing a “change in schedule” as her reason for withdrawing. Sabalenka has skipped four of the last six WTA 1000 tournaments, while Swiatek has generally played a fuller schedule since first becoming world No. 1 in 2022.

Sakkari reflected on those choices: “I think, on their level, I mean, it’s the No. 1 and No. 2 in the world, they can basically be more selective with what they play,” mused Sakkari, who wasn’t aware of their absences. “I don’t know if it’s injury or fatigue related, but probably they thought that it’s the right thing to do for them.” She also described her own planning: “We decided that we’re going to play a more reduced calendar,” and added, “Not that that means that I’m going to play 10, 12 tournaments a year, but we’re not going to chase stupidly points and tournaments.”

Jelena Ostapenko, who lost in the Doha semifinals to Victoria Mboko and who played both singles and doubles, asked the media to keep questions short and warned of the schedule: “It’s a very quick turnaround because, even like last year making the finals here, this year playing semis, you cannot really enjoy it, because you have like one day, like the maximum one day just to, you know, to relax a bit and then you have to be in a game mode again,” “It’s a very quick turnaround for a 1000 event.”

Nineteen-year-old Victoria Mboko, the Doha finalist, stressed training and recovery: “I think training plays a big part, the way you train, putting a lot of emphasis on fitness,” and said, “But yeah, I think just, from a recovery standpoint and doing good physio, having good fitness and good routines help you kind of last longer in that sense. I’m trying to improve that in a way. I mean, we’re always focused on it, but I think it’s important to also prioritize everything else off court that’s not related to tennis.”

Victoria Mboko continued her rapid ascent on the WTA tour with a composed 6-3, 6-2 win over two-time finalist Jelena Osapenko, advancing to her second WTA 1000 final in six months and securing a debut in the Top 10. The 19-year-old Canadian, who is the reigning Omnium Banque Nationale champion, has combined form and fitness in a breakout start to 2026.

Q. You are still so young, but I’m assuming that you have gone through ups and downs already. So if you had to pick one specific tournament or match, or like an important decision, switching coaches or changing the practice environment, which one do you say that was sort of the turning point of your career?

VICTORIA MBOKO: I mean, I wouldn’t say there is a significant turning point. Last year I just wanted to start off playing a lot of lower-tier tournaments. I mean, of course my ranking wasn’t helping me getting into higher tournaments.

I think in the past I struggled with a lot of injuries as a junior, and I wasn’t able to play that many tournaments. I think in two years I only, I didn’t play that many matches.

So my goal for last year was just to play a lot of tournaments, collect rhythm, get a lot of matches under my belt, and slowly try to do better the next week. Little did I know that I was playing in the WTA events sooner than I thought. I tried to capitalize on how many matches and tournaments I played to my advantage. I think gradually throughout the year, especially last year, trying to find my footing helped me a lot, and made me gain a lot of confidence within myself and with my game.

Mboko has been in excellent form since the start of the season, reaching the final at the Adelaide International and the fourth round at the Australian Open. In her Doha run she produced back-to-back Top 10 victories over Mirra Andreeva and Elena Rybakina, the latter coming fresh off a title run at the Australian Open. Her performances have underlined a consistency that had been interrupted by injuries during her junior years.

Awaiting Mboko in the final will be either Maria Sakkari or Karolina Muchova. “I don’t really know either of their games that well,” admitted Mboko. “They made it this far, so I know they’re playing pretty good tennis. Yeah, I don’t want to change something up because what I’ve been doing has been working so far.”

Victoria Mboko continued a rapid rise by reaching the final of the WTA 1000 event in Doha, a result that will lift her into the WTA Top 10 when the rankings are updated on Monday. Mboko secured her place in the title match by defeating Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinal.

The 19-year-old is projected to move from No. 13 to at least No. 10 following the tournament. A tournament victory would push her higher than that projected position.

Her arrival in the Top 10 will mark a milestone for Canadian women in the rankings: she is set to become the fourth Canadian woman to reach the WTA Top 10 since the rankings began in 1975.

The broader context for Canadian tennis includes three men who have reached the ATP Top 10: Milos Raonic, who reached a career-high of No. 3 in 2013; Denis Shapovalov, who climbed to No. 10 in 2020; and Felix Auger-Aliassime, who reached No. 5 in 2021. Combining both tours, seven Canadians have now reached the Top 10 in either ATP or WTA history.

Among those seven, Mboko will be the third-youngest to accomplish the feat. She is 19, behind Bassett-Seguso, who was 17, and Bianca Andreescu, who became a Top 10 player at a slightly younger 19. The remaining four Canadians reached the Top 10 in their early 20s.

Mboko’s Doha run adds another chapter to a breakthrough period that gathered pace last summer and has accelerated through this season. With the rankings set to reflect her Doha result, she will enter the Top 10 for the first time when the official list is released on Monday.