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Barcelona legend Ronaldinho was in attendance during Elena Rybakina's quarter-final match against Leylah Fernandez at the Qatar Open on Tuesday (February 15).
Ronaldinho has been spotted at high-profile events in the country in recent months, including the Qatar GP and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He was most recently seen in the stands at the WTA 1000 event in Qatar, which is being held at the International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning Brazilian superstar was spotted sporting a Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) hoodie —one of his former clubs, who are also sponsored by Qatar Airways —and waving to the camera.
Watch the video below:
Rybakina blitzed past Fernandez, 6-4, 6-2, converting five of her 11 break points and winning 79% of her first-serve points as compared to her opponent's 57%. The third-seeded Kazakh will now face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semi-final on Friday (February 16).
The Russian booked her semi-final berth by winning her last-eight match against Danielle Collins 7-5, 6-4. Rybakina, meanwhile, has already gone past her previous best finish at the event, which came in the 2020 edition when she reached the last 16.
A look at how Elena Rybakina is doing at the 2024 Qatar Open
Elena Rybakina was handed a bye in the first round of the 2024 Qatar Open and faced China's Zhu Lin in the first second round.
The Kazakh made easy work of her opponent, dropping just three games to win the match 6-2, 6-1. She came up against Emma Navarro in the third round, who gave her a good run for her money despite being served a breadstick in the first set.
The American won the second set 7-6(6) before Rybakina won the deciding set 6-4. The Kazakh's win against Leylah Fernandez means she will now face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat her in their first and only head-to-head encounter at the French Open quarter-final in 2021.
It has been a mixed season so far for Rybakina. She won the Brisbane International by defeating World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka 6-0, 6-3 in dominant fashion in the final.
Rybakina was then dumped out of the Adelaide International by Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round before losing her second-round Australian Open match against Anna Blinkova 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(20).
The 2022 Wimbledon Champion came roaring back at the Abu Dhabi Open, winning against Danielle Collins, Cristina Bucsa, and Liudmila Samsonova to reach the final. There, she downed seventh seed Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4 to win her second title this season.
