Amanda Anisimova's hopes of retaining her Qatar Open title were dashed after she retired from her second-round match against Karolina Pliskova.

The reigning champion trailed 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 4-1 before shaking hands with Pliskova in Doha as the American seemed to struggle with the heat.

Although Pliskova cancelled out Anisimova's early break, the third seed broke again with her fourth set point to win the opening set.

The pair then exchanged two breaks of serve in the second to force a tiebreak, where momentum swung in Pliskova's favour ahead of the deciding set.

Anisimova initially took a medical timeout while 2-1 down in the third, with the set still on serve, but could not carry on for much longer.

It was the same story for Emma Raducanu, who retired from her matchup with Camila Osorio in the competition.

Just two days after her Transylvania Open final defeat to Sorana Cirstea, in which the Briton claimed to be suffering from an infection, Raducanu opted to retire while 2-6 6-4 2-0 down after an hour and 47 minutes.

Feel better Amanda 

The defending champion Amanda Anisimova is forced to retire which moves @KaPliskova into the third round. #QatarTotalEnergiesOpen pic.twitter.com/pfuvSvxU65

— wta (@WTA) February 9, 2026

Data Debrief: Pliskova continues Anisimova dominance

Pliskova now holds a 6-1 head-to-head record against Anisimova, with all seven of their meetings coming on hard court.

She has also reached her 42nd career round of 16 at a WTA-1000 event, trailing only Victoria Azarenka (54) among currently active players.

Anisimova, meanwhile, lost just her second match at the Qatar Open, previously holding a 9-1 record at the competition.