The top two seeded players at the Qatar Open were eliminated in the quarterfinals as Victoria Azarenka played through pain to win against Elina Svitolina and Jessica Pegula defeated Karolina Pliskova on Thursday. Azarenka held off a late comeback from top-seeded Svitolina, her doubles partner this week, to seal a 6-2, 6-4 win on her third match point. Azarenka managed an apparent lower back problem with stretches and help from a physiotherapist. "In the warm-up, I just felt a very sharp pain and