Vera Zvonareva defeated Su Wei Hsieh 6–4, 6–4 at the WTA 1000 event in Doha on hard court in the first round, causing an upset against the pre-match favourite Hsieh, who carried odds of 1.43 to Zvonareva's 3.03. The Russian secured a straightforward two-set victory, breaking serve consistently across both sets to advance from the opening round. Zvonareva's composed performance against a seeded opponent suggests renewed competitive form ahead of the season's harder-court swing.