Tennis: Monica Niculescu on main board at Doha, Marius Copil loses at Sofia

Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu qualified for the main board of the 3.1-million-dollar WTA tournament in Doha (Qatar), on Sunday, after defeating German player Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-1 in the final round of the preliminary round.

Niculescu (30, the 99th in the WTA) won after one hour and 37 minutes and equaled the situation of her direct matches versus Petkovic (30, the 98th in the WTA), 3-3.

Monica secured a check of 8,900 dollars and 31 WTA points, and in the first round she will face Russian Maria Sharapova (30, the 41st in the WTA), a first match between the two.

Monica Niculescu is the fifth Romanian on the main board of the Qatar tournament, alongside Simona Halep, the second seed, Sorana Cirstea, Irina Begu and Mihaela Buzarnescu.

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Romanian tennis player Marius Copil was defeated by Bosnian Mirza Basic 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4, on Sunday, in the final of the ATP tournament in Sofia, with total prizes of 501,345 euros.

Copil (27 years old, the 93rd in the ATP) had to concede defeat in front of an accessible opponent at the end of a match that lasted two hours and 19 minutes.

Marius Copil was rewarded with a cheque of 47,105 euros and 150 ATP points, while Basic won 89,435 euros and 262 ATP points.