Iga Swiatek falls one short of Dubai final

Qualifier Anna Kalinskaya stunned World No.1 Iga Swiatek in Friday's semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, 6-4, 6-4, snapping the World No.1's seven-match winning streak and advancing to her first Hologic WTA Tour-level singles final.

The loss is just Swiatek's second in her last 26 matches dating back to last September's WTA 500 event in Tokyo. At World No.40, Kalinskaya, meanwhile, is the sixth-lowest ranked player to ever make the final in Dubai in its two-plus decade history, and is the first qualifier to reach the final at the tournament.

She'll face World No.26 Jasmine Paolini of Italy in Sunday's final in an all-unseeded affair -- the first all-unseeded final at WTA 1000 level since two former Top 10 players, Caroline Garcia and Petra Kvitova, dueled in the championship match in Cincinnati in 2022. It will be the fourth all-unseeded final in tournament history, all of which have come in the last decade: Venus Williams vs. Alize Cornet (2014), Sara Errani vs. Barbora Strycova (2016) and Jelena Ostapenko vs Veronika Kudermetova (2022).

Turning point: Kalinskaya won 10 of the last 14 games to score the upset, as she came from a break down in the first set. Swiatek broke first to build a 4-2 lead in the opening set, at one point posting a remarkably clean 11-1 ratio of winners to unforced errors. But as Kalinskaya stayed solid from the baseline, Swiatek's errors began to mount. Kalinskaya broke back immediately to get back on serve.

Serving at 4-4, 30-all, Swiatek struck a backhand long and a forehand wide to hand Kalinskaya a second straight break and a chance to serve out the first set. Kalinskaya, who notched her first career Top 5 win one round earlier over Coco Gauff, was unphased by the chance to hand the Pole her first loss of a set in the tournament. On set point at 40-30, Swiatek misfired on another forehand and Kalinskaya completed her comeback to take the lead after 52 minutes.

Swiatek's consistency continued to waver in the second set, affording Kalinskaya the opportunity to break twice more, and lead 6-4, 5-2. She never faced a break point in the second set until she failed to serve out victory at that juncture -- Swiatek saved two match points at 40-15 in the eighth game -- but didn't falter in the second attempt. Swiatek had an opportunity to break again for 5-5, but another forehand miss -- just wide, to the open court -- denied the World No.1 to get back even.

1: Kalinskaya was previously 0-2 in WTA semifinals in her career, having lost in that round in Washington, D.C. in 2019 and in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2022.

2: The fourth qualifier to ever reach the semifinals in Dubai, Kalinskaya is the second to ever reach any WTA 1000 final. Former World No.4 Garcia was a qualifier at that aforementioned Cincinnati tournament in 2022, a title she eventually won.

3: The win over Swiatek is Kalinskaya's first over a World No.1, but it's her third Top 10 win this week after she beat Jelena Ostapenko in the third round and Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals. The 25-year-old now boasts seven career Top 10 wins in all, and ironically enough, her win over top-ranked Swiatek's is her first-ever against a player from Poland at tour level.

1,506: Kalinskaya is the first qualifier to defeat the World No.1 in more than 1,500 days: when Jennifer Brady beat Ashleigh Barty at the Brisbane International in 2020. The World No.1 won the last 21 such matches.

7: While she snapped Doha champion Swiatek's seven-match winning streak in the Middle East, Kalinskaya has now recorded seven wins this week alone. She won two matches in qualifying against Rebeka Masarova and Kamilla Rakhimova to reach the main draw.

14: Swiatek hadn't lost a set in the Middle East this year, and her loss to Kalinskaya is her first straight-sets defeat to anyone in nearly 12 full months: Elena Rybakina beat her 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open last March.

7:43: Kalinskaya's win over Swiatek lasted 1 hour and 42 minutes, bringing her total time on court in main-draw matches this week to 7 hours and 43 minutes.

1-1: Kalinskaya and Paolini have split two previous meetings, and they'll be playing for the second time in the span of four weeks. On Jan. 22, Kalinskaya was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over No.26 seed Paolini in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

wtatennis.com
 

Well in my last post, I did say first meetings could be tricky. It turned out to be just that for Iga. 

History has often shown no top player can ever underestimate a qualifier (Raducanu is the perfect example of this). They have nothing to lose and can play more freely. Every round being a bonus financially and ranking wise.  

To be fair Kalinskaya is one of those players who's capable of beating anyone when she plays well. The only reason she hasn't is because she's had a lot of injuries. 

There's also a reason very few players have won the Doha/Dubai double. It is hard. You're playing back to back with no breaks. That's a lot to handle physically but also mentally. 

Anyone can have an off day with so much constant pressure. Today was one of those days for Iga. 

Too many unforced errors (partially caused by her opponent who continued to play at a very high level). 

I admit at 4/2 I thought Iga had the first set in the bag, but one bad service game with 2 doubles changed the set and the whole match really. 

Iga became more erratic and irritated to the point where she did the very rare thing of throwing her racket. 

Usually it's Iga who's cool and composed under pressure (it was the thing I was most impressed with and praised in Doha last week with Rybakina in particular). 

Today it was the reverse, her opponent was the one who remained poised while Iga give in to her emotions. Also a very rare occurrence.  

Iga did manage to get her bearings towards the end of the match and almost made a comeback from match points down. Had that forehand gone it at breakpoint when Kalinskaya was serving for it a 2nd time and the set was even at 5/all could have been a different match. 

But in the end it was too little too late, Kalinskaya  served better and stayed strong mentally when it counted and won. 

I have no doubt Iga will learn from this loss and come back stronger the next time they play.

It is a real shame, Iga definitely had a shot at winning Dubai this year (I think she knew it which is why she got so upset). 

But that's sport, one week you win, the next you lose. Plenty of big tournaments and chances still to come this year with Indian Wells and Miami just around the corner. 

We're getting closer to Iga's most dominant surface, and of course there's the Olympics this Summer. More good things to come I'm sure. 

It was a great run regardless only 2 losses in 26 matches?. Something tells me Iga is not done racking up some more titles this year. Really proud of the fight she showed at the very end, battling until the last ball.

Hope she gets a bit of a well deserved breather, and regroups for the U.S. swing.

On to the next.

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek in back to back Dubai semis

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek's unbeaten run through the Middle East this year -- and against Zheng Qinwen -- continued on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The top seed and Doha champion needed 86 minutes to beat Zheng for a sixth straight time in their head-to-head matches and second time this year to move into the semifinals of the WTA 1000 event. Swiatek extend her winning streak in the Gulf region this year to seven matches. Four of Swiatek's wins against Zheng have come on hard courts. She also dropped five games against the 2023 WTA Most Improved Player of the Year when they met at the United Cup last month.

Swiatek never lost serve against Zheng -- she saved all three break points she faced in the match -- and broke the World No.7's serve three times to advance to a semifinal meeting with either No.3 seed Coco Gauff or qualifier Anna Kalinskaya, who play in Thursday's fourth and final quarterfinal.

Swiatek speaks: Six wins against Zheng in less than two full calendar years has done little to dampen Swiatek's appreciation for the 21-year-old's talent. Swiatek posted a stat line of 17 winners to just 10 unforced errors in 17 games, more than enough to eek out a fourth hard-court win in her collection of wins against Zheng.

"She has great power, great topspin. You have to be ready for that," the World No.1 told reporters in her postmatch press conference. "She wants to really be proactive, so you have to keep up with the intensity. I've been doing that during our matches."

Match management: Zheng, to her credit, hit 19 winners to 18 unforced errors in the match -- but landed only 48% of her first serves. That proved to be the key statistic that gave Swiatek opportunities throughout the match. Zheng went just 9-for-24 on points behind her second serve.

Swiatek won the first three games of the match -- saving a break point at 2-0 -- in what was a comprehensive set for the top seed. She denied Zheng the opportunity to get out in front early in set two by saving another break point in the third game (if converted, Zheng would've had a 3-1 lead) and sprinted to the finish line from there by winning the last four games.

wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek is on a hot streak in the Middle East. 

Something about these courts just suits her game so well. And she just gets more and more comfortable with every match. 

Fun to watch when she's in this groove.

Next up will be a surprise qualifier in Kalinskaya who knocked out Ostapenko in straight sets and also upset Gauff. 

So definitely not taking her challenge lately tomorrow especially given they've never played each other. Those are always tricky.  

Jazda Iga!. 

OptaAce stats

14 - Iga Swiatek has won her last 14 matches vs top-20. This Century, only four players had a longest such streak: Venus Williams, Justine Henin, Serena Williams and … Iga Swiatek (21 in a row Doha and the WTA Finals 2022). Streak.


12 - Iga Swiatek is now the player with the most WTA-1000 quarter-finals won after her first 13 such QFs played (12), improving the previous record held by Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty (11 each). Dominator.


World #1 Iga Swiatek improves to 6-0 vs. #7 and AusOpen runner up Zheng Qinwen, beats the Chinese 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semifinals in Dubai. 7 consecutive wins 13 consecutive WTA 1000 wins Yet to drop sets in the Middle East...

Iga Swiatek avenges Wimbledon loss to Svitolina moves into Dubai quarters

World No.1 Iga Swiatek toppled No.15 seed and two-time former champion Elina Svitolina in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday 6-1, 6-4 to run her winning streak in the Middle East to six straight.

The Doha champion Swiatek won seven straight games from 1-1 in the first set to put herself in good position against Svitolina -- who'd won their last meeting in three sets in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last summer -- and edged a tighter second set that saw five combined service breaks to advance to the quarterfinals in Dubai for the second year in a row.

Stat of the match: Now 2-1 against Svitolina all-time after the 1-hour, 24-minute win, Swiatek has now won 25 of her last 26 matches dating back to a fourth-round loss to Jelena Ostaptenko at the US Open last summer and is on a 13-match winning streak against Top 20 players.

Swiatek speaks: The World No.1 credited her decision-making in helping her finish off the straight-sets win. She had leads of 2-0 and 4-2 in the second set, but quelled a Svitolina rally by breaking at 4-4 -- and serving out victory after saving a break point for 5-5.

Quarterfinal outlook: Up next for Swiatek is another rematch: For a spot in the final four, she'll face No.6 seed Zheng Qinwen, the Australian Open finalist, who beat Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-2.

Swiatek is 5-0 against Zheng, but has lost a set in three of those matches. But their last meeting came just last month at the United Cup -- weeks before Zheng reached her first major final in Melbourne -- and Swiatek eased to a 6-2, 6-3 win.

"She's progressing, but I felt like I still could play good tennis against her," Swiatek said. "I don't know about Australia because I got to say I didn't see any of her match[es]. When I lost [in the third round to Linda Noskova], I just completely cut off any tennis in my life. So it's hard for me to say.

"She's at this moment in her career, I mean everybody is when they're 21, 22, 23, when they're improving a lot."

wtatennis.com

More OptaAace Stats

9 - Iga Swiatek is the 4th player since the WTA-1000 format's introduction in 2009 the make the QFs in 9+ consecutive appearances (between Dubai 2023 - Dubai 2024) after Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska. Habit.


9 - Iga Swiatek has made the quarter-finals in nine of the 11 WTA-1000 events she took part as the World No. 1 (the only exceptions were Toronto and Cincinnati 2022). Impressive.

Iga Swiatek continues winning run in Dubai

 

Doha champion Iga Swiatek got off to a winning start at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-4 second-round win over American Sloane Stephens.

After Swiatek recorded four wins to capture the Qatar TotalEnergies Open title last week, the World No.1 needed nearly 2 hours to extend her unbeaten run in the Middle East this year to five in her return to Dubai after a runner-up finish to Barbora Krejcikova in 2023. The World No.1 is bidding for her eighth career WTA 1000 title this week in Dubai, and has now won 23 of her last 24 matches dating back to last summer's US Open -- with her only loss coming in January in the third round of the Australian Open to Czech teenager Linda Noskova.

Match management: With the win, Swiatek improved to 3-0 in her career against 2017 US Open champion Stephens, and has never lost a set in those matches. She came close in Tuesday's affair, though, as she was down a break three times in the first set -- at 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3. But she won three straight games (and 12 of the last 14 points) to avoid dropping a set to Stephens for the first time.

The second set was the inverse of the first in that both women held serve across the first nine games -- and combined to save all 13 break points they faced -- before Swiatek broke Stephens' serve for a fifth and final time to wrap up the win in 1 hour and 57 minutes.

Swiatek speaks: "For sure it wasn't easy. We had a lot of tight games," she told reporters after the match. "I really needed to perform a little bit better in those important moments because I couldn't convert some break points. But I'm happy that at the end I did.

"I just need to go a level up, but just a little bit. There weren't, like, many important changes I could do to make my game better because I knew I just needed to play better just a little bit and it's all going to be fine."

Up next: Swiatek will next face two-time former Dubai champion and No.15 seed Elina Svitolina for a spot in the quarterfinals. The pair have split two prior meetings, with Svitolina winning their last match in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last summer.

"I just have to be ready and take a lesson from Wimbledon and try to play my game," Swiatek said.

The winner of that match will face the winner of the third-round affair between No.5 seed Zheng Qinwen, the Australian Open finalist, and Anastasia Potapova. Zheng rallied from a set down to defeat Japanese qualifier Nao Hibino 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday, while Potapova rolled to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Italian lucky loser Lucia Bronzetti.

wtatennis.com  

Some called today, winning ugly, I call it impressive. It's not easy after you've just won a title a few days before to get on a plane and start all over again with different conditions. 

But that's exactly what Iga did she won a very gritty match from a very good opponent. In terms of quality of play it was definitely the match of the day. 

The fact that Iga somehow managed to win it in straight sets despite losing serve 3 times shows how much her serve and her confidence in it has improved. And of course her impeccable return of serve skills don't hurt either.

It would have been perfectly understandable for Iga to lose in 3 today, but her sheer mental strength pulled her through.

Next will be a chance for Iga to get some revenge for Wimbledon. A first meeting with Svitolina on a hard court. Should be fun. 

More fun OptaAce stats

88.5% - Iga Swiatek is the player with the highest winning percentage in WTA-1000 tournament’s debuts since the format was introduced in 2009 (88.5%, 23-3) - min.10 tournament’s appearances. Debut.

72 - Iga Swiatek has won 72 of her first 90 WTA-1000 matches: after 90 matches in this kind of events, only Serena Williams had more wins since the introduction of the format in 2009 (77). Run-up.

Iga Swiatek makes it a historic 3-peat in Doha

Well into the sixth game of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open final, Iga Swiatek was scuffling. The gusting wind was annoying -- and so were the deep, measured groundstrokes of her opponent.

Up two breaks, Elena Rybakina was serving at 4-1 when she drew first blood -- her own, on a nasty service follow-through that scraped her left shin. The self-inflicted wound sent her to the sideline, where a trainer went through a lengthy repair process.

Swiatek used the time wisely, discussing strategy in an animated conversation with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. As Rybakina stood for several minutes while bandages were applied, you could almost feel her momentum leaking away.

Two points after that delay, Swiatek broke back -- and was on her way to a gripping 7-6(8), 6-2 victory. It was her third consecutive title in Doha. The last woman to three-peat at a WTA event was Serena Williams, at Miami from 2013-15.

Seems like lately Swiatek and Serena have been frequenting a lot of the same real estate, which is a good thing. Only Serena won seven WTA 1000 titles faster than Swiatek. Serena did it in her 22nd WTA 1000 appearance. Doha was Swiatek's 25th.

"I never knew that it's so special to win three times in a row," Swiatek said. "But I would say that it happens when you actually don't know about it, so I don't aim to break any records. I'm just playing tennis, and that's all."

There is nothing in women’s tennis at the moment like Peak Swiatek. She’s played in 23 Hologic WTA Tour championship finals -- and won 18 of them.

A little more perspective: This was Swiatek’s seventh WTA 1000 title. Since the format was introduced in 2009, no one has won more before her 23rd birthday.

That's right. She’s still only 22.

It’s easy to forget that Swiatek had lost her past three matches to Rybakina, all last year. And that her previous tournament, the Australian Open, ended in the third round with a devastating loss to teenager Linda Noskova.

"I thought I'm gonna lose here in second round," Swiatek said. "I wasn't feeling really confident before the tournament. I didn't also have some peaceful time at home to just focus on working, so I wasn't really expecting a lot."

"And then, you know, it felt like if you're going to give 100 percent and work hard, good things may come."

After sailing through to the final, this was the first serious adversity she’d faced in Doha. Swiatek dropped only 11 games in her first three matches, then received a walkover when Karolina Pliskova withdrew in the semifinals. Both Swiatek and Rybakina saw their serves broken three times when the first set arrived at that tiebreaker.

At 8-all, Swiatek stroked a smooth backhand winner down the line and summoned a Rafa-esque fist pump (and what might have been the Polish equivalent of “Vamos!”). On her fourth set point, Swiatek punched a short backhand pass and salvaged a seemingly unsalvageable set.

The Rafa reference was no random act. Swiatek, of course, adores Rafael Nadal. Her heavy top-spinning forehand was patterned after his and, two years ago at the Australian Open, she was a witness to one of his greatest comebacks.

At 35 years old, Nadal lost the first set to Daniil Medvedev, 10 years his junior. Somehow, Nadal came back to win his 21st major. Swiatek was there, nestled in amongst the crowd on Rod Laver Arena, and absorbing another Master Class in the meaning of clutch into her memory bank.

Surrounded by the best athletes in the world, Swiatek is freakishly endowed. But while her athleticism is truly exceptional, maybe we should give more credit to her grit. On Saturday, she started without her best stuff and found a path to survival in that 90-minute first set, saving a set point in the process. Once ahead, she was relentless.

For three years now, Doha has been the spark that’s ignited Swiatek’s season.

Two years ago, ranked No.8 at the age of 20, she blasted her way through three Top 10 players to win it for the first time. A 37-match win streak and eight titles ensued and Swiatek finished 2022 as the World No.1.

After defending her Doha crown last year, the degree of difficulty was greater. If 2022 saw Swiatek break away, 2023 was about holding off the closing pack. There were fewer titles -- though the six she did win still set the mark -- and she had to win her last 11 matches of the year, but the result was the same. She finished on top of the rankings ladder once again.

This year? After winning the first WTA 1000 title of the season, Swiatek has shown she's not ready to get lapped anytime soon. In fact, the win only widened her lead on the rankings table, pushing her over 10,000 points and putting her nearly 1,400 points clear of Sabalenka.

"I wouldn't say, like, one tournament is a specific goal for me, because at the end, I was proud of each of my seasons no matter which tournament I won or what happened," Swiatek said. "You're just happy that you can overcome obstacles and work hard.

"Sometimes the titles are more for Wikipedia than for you, but this season, yeah, I'm just taking it easy step by step and week by week."

The best four players in the world are beginning to separate themselves from the field. Rybakina who has already pockted two titles and leads the tour in wins, forced Swiatek to red-line her effort for 90 minutes in that gargantuan first set. Going forward, she’ll be a constant threat.

World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka is coming off her second straight Australian Open title and well rested after skipping Doha. No.3 Coco Gauff, who won the previous Grand Slam, turns 20 next month.

How will it play out?

They’re all entered in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Play begins Sunday.

wtatennis.com

I said I was expecting a great battle, and that's exactly what we got. Boy, did we ever!. I also mentioned it'd go Iga's way if she stayed close on serve. 

For a while there things really didn't look good 1-4 down in the first. But wow, what an impressive turnaround. 

She may not have been able to hold in her service games at the start of the match, but staying calm definitely played a big part in winning that first (which was key given Iga is something like 59-0 when winning the first set). Which is astounding. 

It was one of the most impressive comeback's I've seen from Iga in a while. 

Of course we had the one with Collin's at Aussie Open, this one was more so because it was against one of Iga's biggest rivals, someone who she feels very uncomfortable against game-wise, someone who has had her number for pretty much all of last year. 

The mental fortitude she showed was something else, and the rallies were equally as excellent. It may not have been a quality match all the way through due to the windy conditions. But what they were both able to do despite that deserves a lot of praise. 

A fantastic final with Iga pulling off the historic hat trick in Doha. Not a bad way to recover from an early Aussie Open loss. 

On to Dubai, Jazda!.

Iga Swiatek makes 3rd consecutive Doha final courtesy of Pliskova withdraw

The fifth edition of Iga Swiatek's rivalry with Elena Rybakina will take place in the Qatar TotalEnergies Open final on Saturday.

No.1 seed and two-time defending champion Swiatek advanced to her third straight final in Doha after Karolina Pliskova withdrew from their scheduled semifinal match on Friday due to a lower back injury. No.3 seed Rybakina joined her after defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-4 to reach her third final of 2024.

Pliskova had won her last nine matches prior to the withdrawal, having won her first title in four years last week at the WTA 250 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She defeated Anna Kalinskaya, Anastasia Potapova, Linda Noskova and Naomi Osaka this week. Her first three victories came in three sets, and she defeated Osaka in a pair of tiebreaks on Thursday -- handing the four-time Grand Slam winner a loss for the second time in four tournaments in her comeback from maternity leave so far.

"Sorry for the tournament that I had to withdraw, but unfortunately I had too many matches in last couple of days, and my body just didn't react well, especially after last night having a tough match against Naomi," Pliskova said.

"I felt like I was pushing it a little bit over limit, and then I felt very big pain in my lower back, so I'm not able to compete anymore."

The walkover is not counted towards Swiatek's official win-loss record against Pliskova or otherwise, nor does it end Pliskova's unbeaten streak.

Swiatek will enter Saturday's final on an 11-match winning streak in Doha, having won her last 21 sets at the tournament. Overall, her career win-loss record at the event is 12-1, with her only defeat coming in the 2020 second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova. The World No.1 is looking to become the first woman to win three straight titles at a single Hologic WTA Tour event since Serena Williams completed a hat trick at the Miami Open from 2013-15.

Swiatek vs. Rybakina V

Swiatek and Rybakina split two junior meetings in 2016 and 2017, and have played each other four times at pro level, with Rybakina leading 3-1. The Pole took their first meeting 7-6(5), 6-2 in the 2021 Ostrava quarterfinals, but Rybakina announced herself as one of Swiatek's greatest threats with a trio of victories in 2023.

Rybakina has won both of their previous matches on outdoor hard courts in straight sets, in the fourth round of the Australian Open and the Indian Wells semifinals last year. They have not played since the Rome quarterfinals last May, which Rybakina took after Swiatek retired at 2-2 in the third set due to a thigh injury.

wtatennis.com

Well it's been a long time coming. The match up a lot of fans have been dreading has finally arrived.

 

They've been avoiding each other in finals for the past year, so it had to happen at some point. 

I think the fact it's happening in Doha of all places is good for Iga. She feels very comfortable here, the slow courts really suit her game. 

As long as she stays calm and stays close with Rybakina on serve she will definitely take it. 

She has been working on changing her service motion this season in order to deal with people like Rybakina so tomorrow she'll finally be able to put it to the test. 

The last 2 meetings Iga had with Rybakina she wasn't fully fit. Indian Wells she had a rib issue and Rome the thigh problem, so I'd hardly call those fair wins. 

This time Iga is fully fit and had a day off between the matches. I'm expecting a great battle. 

Jazda Iga we believe in you!.

Iga Swiatek back in the semis of Doha

World No.1 Iga Swiatek's attempt to win three straight Qatar TotalEnergies Open titles is still alive after a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Victoria Azarenka in Thursday's quarterfinals.

In a matchup between a pair of two-time Doha champions, Swiatek needed 1 hour and 14 minutes to oust former World No.1 Azarenka and reach the semifinals. Swiatek is now 3-1 lifetime against Azarenka, with wins in their past three meetings.

In the semifinals, Swiatek will face another former World No.1 when she takes on Karolina Pliskova. The 2017 Doha champion Pliskova defeated yet another former World No.1 in the nightcap quarterfinal, squeaking past Naomi Osaka 7-6(6), 7-6(5).

Pliskova continues her own current winning streak on tour. With her 1-hour and 43-minute victory over Osaka, the Czech has won her last nine matches -- in the last 10 days .

Looking ahead to their semifinal showdown, Swiatek is 3-0 against Pliskova, including two wins last year.

Swiatek streak continues: Top-seeded Swiatek is up to 11 straight match-wins at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open. Overall, her career win-loss record at the event is 12-1, with her only defeat coming in the 2020 second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.

"I felt like I started a little bit playing too aggressively maybe, but then I found my rhythm and the proper way to play," Swiatek said about her win over Azarenka. "I kept it till the end of the match. I'm happy that I could analyze during the match and then take a lesson from that."

Like Swiatek, Azarenka won her Doha titles back-to-back, over a decade ago in 2012 and 2013. Azarenka brought her Doha championship experience to the first set and was a point away from breaking Swiatek for a 5-3 lead.

But the top seed got out of that jam, then earned a break point of her own at 4-4 behind a barrage of blistering backhands. Azarenka double faulted to cede that game and put Swiatek up a break, and the Pole routinely served out the set from there.

The second set was much more straightforward, as Swiatek romped through it without facing a break point. Swiatek went 5-for-6 on break points on the day, and she ended the match with 17 winners to just five from Azarenka.

Swiatek is still bidding to become the first player to win a Hologic WTA Tour event three consecutive times since Serena Williams prevailed at the Miami Open in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek back in 3rd straight quarterfinal of Doha

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek extended her impressive Qatar TotalEnergies Open winning streak by defeating No.14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 6-4 in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.

Two-time defending champion Swiatek has now won 10 straight matches at the tournament after besting Alexandrova in their Doha evening showdown. Swiatek improves to 3-1 against Alexandrova with the 1-hour and 31-minute victory.

Swiatek will now play another two-time Doha champion, Victoria Azarenka, in the quarterfinals. Former World No.1 Azarenka beat No.8 seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 6-3 in the night match, for her third win over Ostapenko already this year.

Swiatek's Doha dominance: Overall, Swiatek is 11-1 in Doha, with her lone loss at the tournament coming to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 2020 second round. The Polish player has not dropped a set at the event since her 2022 first-round match against Viktorija Golubic.

By knocking out World No.19 Alexandrova, Swiatek has won her last 11 matches against Top 20 opposition, and is 4-0 against that group so far this year. Swiatek's last loss to a fellow member of the Top 20 was to Veronika Kudermetova in the Tokyo quarterfinals last September.

Break points fended off: Swiatek needed to save three separate groupings of break points against Alexandrova, who had patches of exceptionally big hitting. Swiatek staved off two break points in the opening game, then four more in the first game of the second set.

The trickiest game was the last one of the match, where Swiatek saw four match points disappear, with a break point for Alexandrova on either side of that quartet.

Alexandrova came up with stellar returns to erase Swiatek's first four match points, as she tried to pull the second set back on serve. However, Swiatek came through on her fifth match point and she successfully finished the match 8-for-8 on break points saved.

Azarenka beats Ostapenko again: Four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek will now face two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka in Thursday's quarterfinals. Swiatek is 2-1 against Azarenka, and Swiatek has won their two most recent matches.

Azarenka, the Doha champion in back-to-back years in 2012 and 2013, cruised past Ostapenko in 1 hour and 28 minutes in the nightcap. With her Wednesday night win, Azarenka has extended her undefeated record against Ostapenko to 5-0 (3-0 in 2024).

For now, Ostapenko is still this year's match-win leader, with 14 victories so far in 2024 -- but all three of her losses this season have come at the hands of Azarenka.

wtatennis.com

8 - Iga Swiatek is the fifth player to make the quarter-finals for 8+ consecutive WTA-1000 appearances since the format introduction in 2009 after Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Ashleigh Barty. Routine.


10 - Iga Swiatek has become the fourth player to win 10+ consecutive matches at the Qatar Open since the inception of the tournament in 2001, after Victoria Azarenka (14 wins in a row), Maria Sharapova (12) and Petra Kvitova (also 10). Feeling.


11 - Iga Swiatek has won her last 11 matches v top-20 (her such longest such winning streak is 21): she is the 5th player in 2000s with multiple streaks of more than 10 top-20 wins in a row - after Henin, Davenport and Williams sisters. Turbo.


3 - Only Agnieszka Radwanska (five in a row between 2012 and 2016) has made more consecutive quarter-finals at the Qatar Open than Iga Swiatek since the inception of the tournament in 2001 (three, 2022-2024). Aga-Iga.


7.2 - Iga Swiatek is the player with the fewest games dropped on average per match in WTA-1000 events since the introduction of the format in 2009 (7.2) - Serena Williams is the second-best with 7.8. Flawless.

These stats from OptaAce are always fun :)

Iga Swiatek starts Doha title defense with dominant win

 

Two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek needed just 61 minutes to open her latest campaign at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open with a victory, as the World No.1 defeated Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-1 in Monday's second round.

Swiatek is one of five women who've won the singles title in Doha twice, and is seeking to becoming the first to win three titles at the event, which dates back to 2001. The Pole is trying to become the first player to win at any Hologic WTA Tour event for a third consecutive year since Serena Williams won in Miami from 2013-15.

She got off to the races quickly towards that overall goal. Against Cirstea, she won five straight games in the first set, and six in a row to take the second to advance to a third-round meeting with either Erika Andreeva or No.14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Read on for more facts and stats from Swiatek's opening triumph.

9: Swiatek has won her last nine matches in Doha, which includes a streak of 15 straight sets. In the first match of her 2022 victory, she defeated Viktorija Golubic in three sets, and hasn't lost a set in Qatar since then.

3: Swiatek is now 3-0 in her career against Cirstea, and all three wins have come on hard courts. Previously, she was a 6-2, 6-3 winner in Indian Wells last spring, and won in three sets at the 2022 Australian Open.

0: Swiatek did not face a break point in the match, and broke Cirstea six times overall. Swiatek only lost eight points in seven service games.

"I'm happy with my performance, and I feel like it was a really solid match," the top seed said afterwards. "I kind of felt like I was able to keep my focus from the beginning 'til the end.

"After every game I was more confident and I could even relax a little bit more at the end. So I'm happy that I just played solid."

4: Though she boasts 21 career wins against Top 10 players, Cirstea is now 0-4 in her career against reigning World No.1s.

68: The win is Swiatek's 68th at a WTA 1000 event. Only Caroline Wozniacki (89) and Victoria Azarenka (79) recorded more victories at the tournament level before turning 23.

wtatennis.com