Samantha Stosur's win over world number one Caroline Wozniacki was not the only surprise for an unsuspecting crowd at the WTA Championships, where music, dance and even a frightened feline vied with the tennis for attention.
An uninspiring opening match between Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka on Wednesday took a bizarre turn at the second change of ends when a breakdancing trio began 'busting moves' on court at the Khalifa Tennis Complex.
A solo saxophone player serenaded the crowd during the Kim Clijsters v Jelena Jankovic match, and then a curious cat padded onto the purple-coloured court to hold up Wozniacki's game against Stosur.
The scaredy-cat scampered under the hoardings at the side of the court before making its escape.
Stosur, who opened her Maroon Group campaign at the $4.55 million tournament with a straight sets win over Francesca Shiavone, said her indifferent from coming into Doha had been a cause for concern.
"I guess when you haven't been playing so well leading up to a big event, there's maybe that a little bit of doubt," the Australian told a media conference.
"(But) I had always been practising well and doing all the right things. I was hopeful that it would turn around soon."
With Wozniacki needing just one more win to seal the year-end world number one spot, few gave Stosur much hope of causing an upset in the Qatari capital.
However, the 26-year-old gave Wozniacki a taste of her own baseline medicine, attacking her weaker forehand and sending scorching winners past the startled Dane to record a 6-4 6-3 win.
"Against someone like her I have to go after the points and try and hit winners. Sometimes by doing that you do hit more errors," added Stosur.
"I think I was okay with that going into the match, that if I was making some mistakes it didn't matter because I probably would hit more winners.
"I guess it's a fine line between doing enough and going too crazy and doing too much."
With the win Stosur has all but sealed her place in the semi-finals of the prestigious season-ending tournament but will round out the group stage against Elena Dementieva on Thursday.
Wozniacki faces Schiavone, while in the White Group Kim Clijsters plays Victoria Azarenka.
