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• Tauson sinks Bencic hopes as Azarenka survives scare in Doha

  Belinda Bencic made a painfully sharp exit from the Qatar Open as she was beaten 6-4 3-6 6-3 by rising star Clara Tauson.

  The Olympic champion was the highest-profile casualty on day one, losing to a player making her main-draw debut in a WTA 1000 event.

  Only the second Danish player to appear in Doha, after former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, the 19-year-old Tauson came from 4-2 down to take the opening set, before Bencic levelled up.

  But Tauson was not to be denied. The world number 33 gained a crucial break in game four of the decider, before winning 12 of the last 13 points on her serve to set up a second-round clash with third seed Paula Badosa.

  "It was a very tough match," said Tauson, who hit seven aces. "I know Belinda is playing very well, so I had to play my best today, and I did sometimes. 

  "I have my confidence, but every match is really tough at this level, so I'm doing my best."

  Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka survived a scare to scrape past Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 5-7 6-2 7-5.

  The 12th seed, who is aiming to become the first player to lift this trophy three times, recovered from two breaks down in the decide before rescuing match point at 5-4 down and eventually scrambling over the line.

  Amanda Anisimova, who defeated Bencic and Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open, built on her early-season momentum by seeing off Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-5 6-4.

  Ninth seed Jessie Pegula – a quarter-finalist in the season's opening grand slam – beat doubles world number one Katerina Siniakova in straight sets, while former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin lost in three sets to fellow American Ann Li.

• Inzaghi angered by Inter approach in shock Sassuolo setback

  Simone Inzaghi was left "very angry" with Inter's approach in their 2-0 defeat against Sassuolo and warned his side to buck up their ideas if they want to retain the Serie A title.

  Early goals from Giacomo Raspadori and Gianluca Scamacca made it a third straight league game without a win for the Nerazzurri, who also lost the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie to Liverpool in midweek.

  Inter consequently failed to reach the summit of the table despite leaders Milan being held by Salernitana on Saturday, though only three points separate the top three in the table. Inter sit two points adrift of Milan, with Napoli in third.

  Sassuolo have now clocked up away wins against both Milan sides and Juventus this term, with head coach Inzaghi left frustrated by his team's poor application.

  "I am very angry with the approach, because we had three days since Wednesday's game. We talked about the fact Sassuolo beat Juve and Milan away, they play great football and we had to be wary," Inzaghi said.

  "We tried to do everything in the second half, created so many chances and were unlucky, but the fact remains we should have had a different approach.

  "Sassuolo had great technical quality, they were fresher physically and it showed.

  "We will analyse the situation, we know there are 13 games to go, we are all up there and want to keep going forward.

  "The fact is a team that wants to win the Scudetto cannot get the approach as wrong as we did today."

  Lautaro Martinez drew a blank for a seventh straight game, while Opta data shows that since the resumption of the league after the mid-season break Inter have recorded 100 shots (36 on target) but managed only six goals.

  They remain the top scorers in Serie A, though, and Inzaghi is sure his side will soon start finding the net with more regularity.

  "I don't think there is anxiety, the great champions are accustomed to these games. I think there was a lack of sharpness, there was some fatigue, both physical and mental," Inzaghi added.

  "My staff and I tried to focus the players this week, but we conceded two early goals that we usually don't allow.

  "We remain the most prolific side in Serie A this season and will get back to scoring goals soon. When you are a striker and don't score, you just have to stay calm, the goal will come."

  Matteo Darmian and Roberto Gagliardini were hauled off at half-time for Denzel Dumfries and Edin Dzeko, and Inzaghi would have liked to have made more alterations.

  "I would have happily changed more than two at half-time," he said. "We lost some of our organisation, we tried to open it up again, but we have to analyse what went wrong today.

  "There's another match in [five] days [against Genoa], we know that we play continually and need to be stronger than absences, bans, injuries, setbacks, everything.

  "We're all in there and will see what happens at the end of the season."

• Xavi and Busquets laud Aubameyang after Barcelona hat-trick

  Xavi and Sergio Busquets hailed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the former Arsenal man netted a hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-1 hammering of Valencia.

  The Gabon striker netted either side of Frenkie De Jong's tap-in to give Barca a 3-0 half-time lead, before completing his treble in bizarre circumstances on the hour-mark, after Carlos Soler had pulled one back for Valencia.

  Barcelona's fourth goal of Sunday's LaLiga contest was originally credited to Pedri, but has since been awarded to the 32-year-old, who got the slightest of touches on the youngster's long-range effort.

  It was the first time Aubameyang, who was making his first LaLiga start, has scored multiple goals in a league game since he helped himself to a hat-trick for Arsenal against Leeds United 12 months ago, and Xavi was thrilled with the forward's contribution.

  "He has scored goals his entire career," he said. 

  "It was to be expected that he would score here soon too. He goes very well to [find] space, he is mature, he is very intelligent.

  "I am delighted with him. These goals will be very good for him."

  Aubameyang's opening goal made him just the fourth player to score in the Spanish, English, German, and French top flights this century, after Stevan Jovetic, Michy Batshuayi, and James Rodriguez, while the striker also became the first Gabonese player to net in LaLiga.

   

  Barca captain Busquets was equally effusive in his praise for his new team-mate.

  "He is working very well, he arrived with a lack of minutes, but he is getting them [now]. He is a great player and it is a luxury to have him in the squad, [especially] after arriving for free," Busquets said.

  "Without Aubameyang's help, perhaps the goalkeeper would have been able to stop it [Barcelona's fourth goal]."

  Although Pedri saw the final goal of the match taken away from him, the quality of his initial strike did not go unnoticed by Xavi, who said the midfielder is amongst the most talented players in world football.

  "He is superlative," the Barca boss said. "At that level of talent, there is no other [player] in the world like Pedri, and he is only 19 years old.

  "We ask him to shoot [more often]. We demand it, he has a good shot. He is very young and shy, but not everyone has the skills he has."

  Barcelona moved into LaLiga's top four with the win, scoring four or more goals in a single away league game against Valencia for the first time since December 1993.