Iga Swiatek withdrawals from Dubai Open

The top two-ranked WTA players have pulled out of the upcoming Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek have both withdrawn from the upcoming WTA Masters 1000 event.

Reem Abulleil was the first to report this news. The decision surprised tennis fans and media alike as everyone expected both players to compete. Below is each player's statement and what it means for their schedules going forward.

Swiatek's statement read, "I am sorry to announce that I will not be playing Dubai this year due to a change of schedule. I hope I will come back next year to experience the great tournament. See you guys in Indian Wells."

Sabalenka's statement read, "I'm really sorry I have to withdraw from Dubai. I have such a special connection with the tournament, the fans, and the city. Unfortunately, I am not feeling 100%. But I hope to be back next year and wish the tournament a great event."

Swiatek suffered a surprising quarterfinal loss to Maria Sakkari in the Qatar Open earlier this week. Meanwhile, Sabalenka has not played since her Australian Open final loss to Elena Rybakina on January 31.

As Swiatek mentioned in her statement, her next tournament will be the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. The outdoor hard-court tournament is a Masters 1000 event on the ATP and WTA tours. The iconic event runs from March 4-15, 2026.

However, Sabalenka did not mention when she would return to action. It is possible that she returns for Indian Wells as well. Currently, Sabalenka has a singles record of 11-1 and with one title. Swiatek has a singles record of 7-3 with zero titles.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships run from Feb. 15-21. The hard-court outdoor tournament has a grand prize payout of $4,088,211. Last year, Mirra Andreeva won the Masters 1000 event as part of her breakout spring on the WTA Tour.

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I said in my last post I'd be surprised if Iga withdrew from Dubai, well I'm definitely surprised but pleasantly so. 

She's actually sticking to her earlier statements at the start of the year about not playing all the WTA 1000s glad to see her prioritizing herself instead of chasing points. 

Point chasing makes no sense as it doesn't allow any player to work on their game in order to improve as I mentioned in my last post it's incredibly hard to do while constantly on tour aka the hamster wheel. 

Players don't get to rest properly either with the current crazy packed schedule. 

So good for Iga for finally realizing that. It'll be better for the longevity of her career.

I hope she and Sabalenka do this more often, maybe it'll force the establishment to care about their players well being and they'll start prioritizing that instead of money and an overblown calendar.

If you want your top players to play make a better schedule otherwise you'll always have a depleted field.

No star players, no money simple as that.

Saba has never really liked or had success in the Middle East so her withdrawal is less of a surprise, but this double withdrawal might make the establishment think just a little more.

Might be really good for Iga mentally as well. 

Hasn't been home since Christmas so I'm sure it'll feel nice to decompress at home and actually have some time to properly train and work on things before the Sunshine Double Swing. 

Especially given both are 2 weeks long now. 

Rest up, recharge and see you in the desert Iga.

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek back into the quarters in Dubai

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek survived a barrage of power hitting from Dayana Yastremska to advance to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships quarterfinals 7-5, 6-0 in 1 hour and 32 minutes.

Swiatek had lost her only previous meeting with Yastremska 7-6(2), 6-4 in 2019 Billie Jean King Cup action, and had suffered a heavy 6-3, 6-1 defeat in last week's Doha semifinals to Jelena Ostapenko. The Ukrainian, who has a similar all-out commitment to first-strike aggression as Ostapenko, did not hold back in the first set. Swiatek had to battle to close it out as Yastremska fought back from 5-3 down, saving the first two set points against her.

Five-time major champion Swiatek found herself in the rare position of being on the back foot in most of the rallies, mustering just two winners in the first set to Yastremska's 16. But unlike Ostapenko in Doha, Yastremska was unable to sustain her best hitting to gain any real momentum or take the lead at any point. Her cascade of unforced errors accounted for 47 of Swiatek's total of 67 points won.

"I knew I had many opportunities to break Dayana on her serve, so I just wanted to be consistent with my service games and I knew the chances are going to come," said Swiatek in her on-court interview. "We have many girls on tour right now who are heavy hitters and they risk it. If it's in, it's impossible to get it. If it's out, you grab these points and be grateful for them. It's not easy -- you have to have a lot of patience and acceptance."

Despite finding a series of thrilling winners to level at 5-5 in the opener, Yastremska's level dipped sharply after that. She won just one more point in the first set, losing it on a wild forehand miss, and then just eight points total in the second set. Swiatek was thus able to reel off the last eight straight games to set up a quarterfinal date with No. 12 seed Mirra Andreeva, who raced past Peyton Stearns 6-1, 6-1 in 1 hour and 13 minutes. The result put Andreeva into her fifth quarterfinal at WTA 1000 level or above.

Andreeva and Stearns were both playing their second match of Wednesday, after both won second-round matches postponed from Tuesday due to rain. Earlier, Andreeva held off former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-0, improving to 2-0 overall against the Czech, who required medical treatment on her wrist between sets.

Stearns notched a milestone win with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 upset of No. 7 seed Zheng Qinwen, her first Top 10 victory at her 11th attempt. The American had lost a trio of three-set heartbreakers in Australia last month to Top 20 opponents -- 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-5 to Daria Kasatkina in Brisbane, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 to Paula Badosa in Adelaide and 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5 to Emma Navarro at the Australian Open. Her defeat of Zheng levels her three-set record in 2025 at three wins to three losses. Zheng is now on a three-match losing streak, having notched just one victory this year so far over Anca Todoni in the Australian Open first round.

wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek stays near perfect in opening round matches

Delayed over four hours before starting her Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships campaign, Iga Swiatek wasted no time once on court. The No. 2 seed swept past Victoria Azarenka 6-0, 6-2 in a battle of former finalists to reach the last 16.

A long rain delay had paused Jasmine Paolini's match ahead of Swiatek on Center Court at match point to the defending champion against Eva Lys. In her on-court interview, the Pole said that she had warmed up "four or five" times initially, before settling down with a book, a nap and some Lego -- the last of which was interrupted by her match call.

Swiatek, the Dubai runner-up to Barbora Krejcikova in 2023, had suffered a heavy 6-3, 6-1 loss to Jelena Ostapenko last week in the Doha semifinals. But she bounced back to her usual position of doling them out with an immaculate performance against Azarenka, the 2010 runner-up to Venus Williams, sealing victory in just 1 hour and 13 minutes.

31-9: Swiatek tallied 31 winners to just nine unforced errors in the match, with her forehand down the line particularly breathtaking in its power and accuracy. Her opening set was near-perfect. She committed only three unforced errors, only faced one break point, and did not allow Azarenka to reach game point on her own serve.

2: Swiatek was relentless in attacking the Azarenka second serve, winning 13 out of 15 points behind it.

17: In total, Swiatek put together a 17-game winning streak against Azarenka. She had won the last nine in a row of their last meeting, a 6-4, 6-0 win in the 2024 Doha quarterfinals, and won the first eight here. A rare Swiatek double fault ended the streak in the third game of the second set, after which a pumped-up Azarenka was able to get a foothold in more of the higher-intensity exchanges. But after Swiatek had fended off three break points to reach 5-2, the five-time major champion broke Azarenka for the sixth time to close the match out. She now owns a 4-1 record against Azarenka.

51: Swiatek has gone 51 consecutive tournaments without losing her opening match, starting at Adelaide 2022. This ties the longest such run this century -- Kim Clijsters did not lose her opening match between Montreal 2002 and Hasselt 2005 inclusive, before her streak was snapped by Mary Pierce at the 2005 WTA Finals Los Angeles. Swiatek's last opening loss came to Maria Sakkari at the 2021 WTA Finals Guadalajara. (Her last opening loss at a knockout tournament was to Ons Jabeur at Cincinnati 2021.)

5: The match marks just the fifth time that Azarenka has won two games or fewer in a completed tour-level match. The first two occasions were in 2007, when she was 17 years old -- 6-1, 6-1 losses to Romina Oprandi in the Amelia Island first round and to Karin Knapp at the same stage of Roland Garros. Azarenka also lost 6-0, 6-2 to Ashleigh Barty in the 2021 Cincinnati third round and to Emma Raducanu in the 2022 Cincinnati second round.

0-1: Swiatek's next opponent will be former Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska, who ended Anastasia Potapova's six-match winning streak 6-2, 6-3. Swiatek has a 0-1 record against the Ukrainian, who won their only previous encounter 7-6(2), 6-4 in 2019 Billie Jean King Cup group stage action.

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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.

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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 addresses fan criticism after Dubai final loss

This is why I'm always careful when writing direct replies. 

It's so easy to say anything these days from behind a screen but so many forget that it goes out into the world and hurts people. 

I hope this makes her fans think the next time they feel like criticizing from their couch.

Iga Swiatek makes it 6 WTA 1000 finals, a first in Dubai

Iga cutting the cake celebrating the 50th year of the WTA

No.1 seed Iga Swiatek continued her dominance of No.5 seed Coco Gauff in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semifinals, winning 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour and 28 minutes.

Swiatek has yet to lose a set to Gauff in six meetings to date. The Pole advances to her 15th career final, and ninth at WTA 1000 level or above. She improves her undefeated record in WTA 1000 semifinals to 6-0, and extends her active winning streak to six following her successful title defence last week in Doha.

Since Swiatek's fourth-round loss at the Australian Open to Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, the World No.1 has dropped just 14 games in six matches. But this was her tightest of those contests by some distance, and the only one in which Swiatek has not won a 6-0 or 6-1 set. Gauff also managed to win more games than she has managed in any encounter with Swiatek since their first, where she fell 7-6(3), 6-3 at Rome 2021.

Swiatek will face either No.3 seed Jessica Pegula, whom she defeated 6-3, 6-0 in the Doha final last week, or former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova in the final. Last October in Ostrava, Krejcikova snapped Swiatek's 10-match winning streak in finals with a 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 upset.

How the match was won: Swiatek's strategy of engaging the American in forehand-to-forehand exchanges is one that's served her well in all their meetings to date, and she deployed it again from the very first point of the match.

Keen to avoid it, Gauff went for bigger shots earlier in rallies on her backhand side, resulting in several fizzing winners. But more often than not, Swiatek's heavy first strikes enabled her to set the pace, and pummeling the Gauff forehand garnered her the first break of the match for 2-1. Of Gauff's 20 unforced errors in the first set, 16 came from the forehand side.

Swiatek played her shakiest match of the Middle East swing to date, with some uncharacteristically loose games scattered throughout. She failed to serve out the first set at her first attempt due to a slew of backhand mistakes; and up 4-1 in the second, a pair of double faults cost her one of her breaks.

But these were only blips. Swiatek closed out the opening set on her fifth set point after a high-octane baseline rally ended with another Gauff forehand error; and a stellar pass enabled her to break Gauff again for 5-2 in the second set before serving out the match with ease.

In Swiatek's words: "I'm pretty happy that tennis is working out, because writing and talking -- not my thing right now!" said Swiatek, whose post-match camera message involved much crossing out and restarting, and whose on-court interview was punctuated by coughing.

"Coco is a great player and I knew it was going to be tough. Especially after last year when we played five times, because you never know if you're going to see something new or not."

As for what the troublesome message said in the end?

"I heard that my dad is going to come to the final, and I wanted make sure that he will, because it's not often that he comes to matches. I wanted to pressure him!"

wtatennis.com

The fact that Iga losing more than a few games is made into a big deal just shows what exceptional level she's currently at. 

She has set her own standards so  extraordinarily high since losing in Australia that now people are literally expecting her to win everything with ease. 

But in reality she's still only human, and really the fact that she has been able to play like this while battling what seems to be a very nasty cold just makes everything all the more impressive. 

So now the 2022 Ostrava final rematch is set. 

It'll be Swiatek vs Krejcikova once more, last time it was a 3 hour marathon that went Krejcikova's way. 

Oddly/unfortunately enough Iga was battling a cold in that as well. 

But it's a new match, a different time of year, with Iga once again reasserting herself. 

I don't want to jinx it, but my gut tells me Iga might get her revenge. 

Ostrava was voted as WTA's match of the year last season, and something tells me we may have a new contender tomorrow. 

One more push to the finish. 

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek sweeps aside Samsonova in Dubai once again reaches semis via walkover

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek swept into the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday, besting No.14 seed Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 6-0 in their Round of 16 showdown.

Swiatek has won her past five matches, including a successful title defense at Doha last week. But this will be Swiatek's first appearance in the Dubai quarterfinals -- last year, she lost in the second round to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Fast facts: In their lone previous meeting, Samsonova pushed Swiatek to three sets in a three-hour Stuttgart semifinal last year before Swiatek prevailed to maintain her undefeated 2022 clay-court season.

This time around, Swiatek had a far easier time, dropping only a single game en route to the 76-minute win. Swiatek finished the match with 18 winners to just six unforced errors, and she never faced a break point. Swiatek is now 35-0 at WTA 1000 events after she wins the first set.

Key moments: Samsonova hung with Swiatek in a number of long games, but the top seed ended up on the winning end of almost all of them, gritting out a tough hold for 2-1, then breaking for 3-1 after Samsonova held game point.

Another break for 5-1 followed, where Swiatek erased a Samsonova game point once again. In the next game, Swiatek fired a backhand winner to convert her first set point.

Swiatek took command for good by grinding through a break for 3-0 in the second set, converting her sixth break point of that titanic game. Swiatek won the last 11 games in a row to take the victory.

Pliskova gives Swiatek walkover into semifinals: Swiatek was scheduled to take on former Dubai finalist Karolina Pliskova in Thursday's quarterfinals, following Pliskova's Round of 16 win over Anhelina Kalinina.

But later on Wednesday evening, Pliskova withdrew from the event due to viral illness.

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There are an awful lot of withdraws with viral illness in this (and previous tournaments)  which is worrying. 

Iga herself sounds quite a bit under the weather with a very raspy voice due to a persistent cough. 

Yet despite that she's sweeping away the competition in a mighty impressive fashion. Just like last year in the Middle East she has hit quite the purple patch. 

Here's is hoping it carries her all the way to the title. 

Honestly as long as she feels good and stays at this level I don't see why she can't make it a Middle Eastern double (even if she does end up having to play Sabalenka in the final).

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek continues her run from Doha into Dubai

World No.1 Iga Swiatek eased to a 6-1, 6-1 win over 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

Less than three days after rolling to her second straight title, at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha, Swiatek sailed to a 72-minute victory to improve to 2-0 against Fernandez.

Here's more from Swiatek's fourth win in four matches in the Middle East swing:

Staying perfect: Swiatek not only stayed unbeaten against Fernandez with the victory, but also against Canadians. She's now 4-0 against players from Canada in her career.

Swiatek's last win against Fernandez, a 6-2, 6-1 triumph in Adelaide last year, also lasted 72 minutes. She won the first four games of Tuesday's encounter and avoided an early pitfall in the second set. Serving at 2-1, and up a break, Swiatek saved two break points in the fourth game that would've seen Fernandez get even in the match for the first time.

A quick turnaround: Not only did Swiatek rise to the occasion against a dangerous foe, she also had to adjust to faster court speeds than the ones she won on last week.

"It wasn't that easy for sure. It was much tougher than the score said," Swiatek said, calling the courts a similar speed to the Australian Open. "In the second set. ... I needed to go a level up. I didn't have much time to get used to the conditions, but I'm just happy I could play solid tennis."

Third time's the charm? Swiatek is through to Round 3 in Dubai for the second time in three career appearances. However, she's never gone further. To do so, she'll have to beat recent Abu Dhabi finalist Liudmila Samsonova, who advanced Tuesday without hitting a ball after Zheng Qinwen withdrew from their Round 2 match with abdominal pain.

Swiatek and Samsonova have played once previously, where Samsonova was the 22nd win in Swiatek's 37-match winning streak a year ago. She came from a set down to beat Samsonova 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, a match that lasted over three hours.

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Simona Halep wins 20th Career Title in Dubai

DUBAI, UAE -- No.1 seed Simona Halep was forced to the brink, but battled to a hard-earned second Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title, as the Romanian fought back from a set down to overcome rising Kazakh Elena Rybakina, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) in Saturday night’s classic final.

"It feels great that I could win it," Halep said, during her post-match press conference. "Actually, it was amazing. [Rybakina] fought till the end. She didn't give up any balls. It was really tough mentally. The pressure was very high. But I want it badly, so that's why I fought till the end."

Reigning Wimbledon champion Halep, who also hoisted the Dubai trophy in 2015, stormed back from a break down at 3-1 in the final set to clinch her 20th career WTA singles title after nearly two-and-a-half hours of unpredictable play.

"It's very special to be in 2020, 20th anniversary of this tournament, 20th title," an elated Halep stated. "It's pretty special. I just want to enjoy it. It's very, very beautiful."

World No.2 Halep notched her first title of the season as she approaches her 318th consecutive week in the Top 10 -- the tenth-longest streak in WTA history. She also earned redemption from her only previous meeting with Rybakina, where the Romanian was forced to retire in the first set of their 2019 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open encounter due to a lower back injury.

"She's strong," Halep said about her vanquished foe. "She has a huge serve. She's tall. She has power. I think she's really good to get into the top 10 very soon."

"[Rybakina is] moving well, even if she's very tall," Halep continued. "Her ball doesn't jump that much. It's really tough to find the length of the ball. The shot, cross backhand, is amazing. She can go also down the line. I think she's at the highest confidence level. I think everything she hits, it's really good now."

With her 20th title, Halep has drawn level with Victoria Azarenka in sixth place on the list of active title winners (behind Serena and Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova).

"I've done a lot of results, many results these six, seven years," said Halep. "I'm staying here in the top 5, top 10, which is not easy. I'm proud of my job. Also this tournament gives me confidence that I'm still there."

Despite the loss, Rybakina, who was in her fourth final out of five events this season, will continue to move up the rankings, as she is projected to reach No.17 on Monday's new rankings, up two spots from her current career-high position of No.19.

After a tight first game, the nerveless power of Rybakina allowed her to edge ahead as the first set took shape. Halep found herself in danger on serve in the second game of the match, having to save a break point, though the Romanian got herself out of trouble on that occasion.

However, at 3-2, Halep let a 40-15 lead slip away as exceptional returning by the Kazakh pulled to another break point. In that instance, Rybakina was ceded the break after a long forehand miscue by Halep, as the unseeded player took a crucial 4-2 lead. The Kazakh was not overwhelmed by her first big advantage, using strong serving to move ahead 5-2.

After holding at love for 5-3, Halep finally had chances on the Rybakina serve, withstanding two set points before clutching two break points. However, Rybakina calmly batted those break points away with an ace and an error-forcing winner, and claimed a third set point after a wide return by Halep. There, another wide return by the top seed gave Rybakina a stirring one-set lead.

Halep, though, was undaunted, and after erasing a break point in the first game of the second set, the Romanian crept ahead. Halep fired a forehand winner for triple break point at 2-1, and after a forehand miscue by the Kazakh followed, the former champion had earned her first break of the night and a 3-1 lead. An ace helped the top seed close out another game and a sturdy 4-1 lead.

Rybakina, however, would keep working for a straight-set win, staving off two break points to hold for 4-2, then getting back on serve at 4-3 after an error-laden game from Halep. Despite that stumble, Halep took command in the set once more, converting her fourth break point of a massive game filled with grueling rallies to slide ahead 5-3.

Serving to level the match, Halep found a much-needed ace at 30-30, giving herself a set point. There, a rally forehand forced an error from Rybakina, and the combatants were deadlocked at one set apiece.

Rybakina, though, clutched the upper hand early in the decider, gritting out a tough service hold for 2-1, then earning a break point in the next game with a huge return off of a Halep second serve. Halep was pressured into a double fault in the next point, and Rybakina was leading by a break at 3-1 in the final set.

Errors by the Kazakh in the very next game gave Halep the break back immediately, though, and the Romanian kept herself on serve until she was able to break Rybakina once more, forcing errors with outstanding defense for a 6-5 lead.

Serving for the match in that game, though, Halep was never able to reach match point, as powerful hitting by the young Kazakh led the topsy-turvy tilt to its inexorable conclusion -- a decisive final-set tiebreak.

In the breaker, Rybakina walloped another huge return off a second serve to go up 4-3, but Halep immediately got the minibreak back with a vicious forehand winner. Eventually, Halep claimed the only match point after a wide Rybakina backhand, which she converted to polish off a tiring tilt and notch a noteworthy 20th WTA singles title.

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What a great tournament and tremendous fight from Simona Halep. 

My gosh how I enjoy watching her play when she's healthy, because she's able to produce out of this world shots that you just won't see with any other player on tour. 

Congratulations on your 20th title Simona (and your 2nd in Dubai), thanks for making another dreary wintery week a little brighter. 

It was an absolute joy to watch you fight your heart out. 

Enjoy some well deserved rest :). 

Kim Clijsters encouraged by first professional match back in Dubai despite loss

Kim Clijsters lost the first match of her highly-anticipated comeback against Garbine Muguruza in Dubai, but she pushed the Spaniard all the way in an entertaining clash on Monday night.

Muguruza beat the four-time Grand Slam champion 6-2 7-6(6) to progress to the second round of the hard-court tournament.

But the continuation of the Australian Open finalist’s impressive start to 2020 - she has won 12 of her 14 matches - was overshadowed by the return of Clijsters, who showed encouraging signs in her first professional match since the 2012 US Open.

Now 36 and the mother of three children, the Belgian shrugged off rust to push the world No.16 in a physically intense battle, coming within two points of extending the match to a third set.

"I had a good feeling out there,” Clijsters said.

"I do feel a little bit of… I'm not going to say relief, but a feeling of the pace I can handle.

"Second set, I felt I was really in the match. I felt like for a while I was dominating some of the points.

“I think that's a good feeling to have, knowing the way I started the first set and then the way I was able to get back into that second set, with the type of tennis I played, it's something that is the positive about this match.

“I'll take that with me for the next matches."

Early on, it was one-way traffic as the in-form Muguruza controlled the contest.

Several forehands from Clijsters flew long while her double-fault tally mounted; she finished the match in double digits.

When the Belgian sprayed a backhand wide, she trailed 6-2 3-0.

Yet Clijsters has a history of quickly rediscovering form after a long lay-off.

She missed the bulk of 2004 due to a wrist injury before rebounding to win Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back in 2005, when ranked outside the top 100.

When she made her return to the game in 2009 after first retiring in 2007, she won the US Open as an unranked wildcard in just her third tournament back.

This is a comeback of an altogether different kind, given her age and the time she has spent away. Yet again, she displayed her uncanny ability to almost immediately summon world-class ball striking.

She and Muguruza slugged out a series of entertaining rallies, and Clijsters ultimately broke the Spaniard to level at 4-4 before saving break points to push ahead 5-4.

Her groundstroke speed matched the powerful Muguruza, and Clijsters even demonstrated her trademark sliding split as she lunged to reach wide forehands.

Despite the large crowd growing in volume as Clijsters threatened to take over the match, Muguruza remained focused and closed out victory in one hour and 37 minutes.

Muguruza was only just starting to emerge on tour in 2012 in what was Clijsters’ last season before her second retirement, and admitted she was impressed by what she saw in the wildcard.

"I think she played very well, especially in the second set at the end. It was very tight," Muguruza said.

"I think this is just special because I didn't know how (she) going to play. I know she can play incredible. She did at some point play incredible level. I haven't seen her play in so long, so it's like, 'Okay, what's going to happen?'

"I'm sure she's going to get better and better, for sure, give us a lot of trouble.”

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Kim Clijsters managing expectations, emotions ahead of professional tennis return in Dubai

DUBAI, UAE - With preparations winding down ahead of her first professional tennis match in about eight years, Kim Clijsters almost looks like she’s never left.

All eyes have been on the former World No.1 since she announced a surprise return to the tour last fall. At 36 years old and with four Grand Slam singles trophies to her name, there’s not much the Belgian has left to achieve.


But that’s not what she’s doing this for, Clijsters told press at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“It was a feeling that I had inside, a feeling that I had inside for a little while,” she said, speaking to a packed room of journalists during WTA All-Access Hour in Dubai.


“Kind of talked to a few people. Once in a while that feeling would go away when I was home with the kids. A couple times it would come back. It got stronger and stronger.


“I talked to my husband. He was like, ‘Why not? Stop worrying about why and ask yourself why not.’ He made a very good point. I was like, All right. Yeah, why not?

That’s not to say that it was an breezy journey back to the game. Clijsters was the first to admit that the process of getting back to professional match fitness has been difficult, especially with the lengthy interval since her last competition. (During those eight years away, the Belgian gave birth to her second and third children, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2017.) She had to delay her comeback - originally scheduled for January - due to an injury, but assured press that she's ready to compete.

“I've enjoyed the challenge," Clijsters said. "I've enjoyed it since the day I've decided to go for it. It's been with ups and downs.

“Being 36 years old, you know that's how it's been for your whole career. It is with ups and downs. It's how you mentally stay through it, how strong you stay through those kind of situations.

“It's been an interesting but very challenging process that I'm really enjoying.”

She will have to hit the ground running in Dubai, where she’s set to contest her first match in eight years on Monday against Garbiñe Muguruza. The Spaniard is coming off a thrilling run to the Australian Open final, looking her vintage best after a sluggish 2019 season.

“I've seen Muguruza play many matches in the last few years, so I have a little bit of an idea,” Clijsters said. “Obviously I was a little curious to see who it was going to be. I don't think it really matters in my situation right now.

“I still feel like I have a lot of things that I want to focus on myself, want to learn, start to get a feel for things again mentally, physically, emotionally, how I'm going to feel when I'm out there.”

To prepare, Clijsters hit the Dubai practice courts with fellow former No.1 Simona Halep - who told press that the Belgian is “playing really well” - and has been seen putting in the long hours on Centre Court.

No stranger to comebacks, Clijsters first stepped away from the sport in 2007 at the age of 23 as injuries took their toll. She spent two years in retirement, during which she gave birth to her oldest daughter Jada, but she soon found herself back on the tennis courts after being invited to compete at an exhibition match at Wimbledon. The trip sparked what would later become her “second career”, returning to the tour in 2009 and right away lifting back-to-back US Open trophies.

But despite her previous success, Clijsters isn’t putting the pressure on herself to see big results straight away.

“I have expectations. I don't think they're the expectations [you guys] would like to hear from me. They're not result related or ranking related. They're more individually for myself,” Clijsters said.

“It's getting a feeling of how I want to play out there,” she added. “That's the expectation or the goal I'm trying to get to. I have moments now where in practice, ‘This is it, this is how I want to play.’ I just have to be able to do it in matches now.

“We'll see if I'm capable of doing that. I'm sure it will take time.”

Kim Clijsters will kick off her run at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against No.9 seed Garbiñe Muguruza during Monday’s first-round action. She is also set to compete in Monterrey and Indian Wells later in the season.

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Roger Federer makes tennis history with 100th ATP title in Dubai

 9 away from matching the number of titles of the man in the photo

Twenty-two years after a 16-year-old Roger Federer made his ATP World Tour debut on home soil in Gstaad, the man they call ‘maestro’ joins Jimmy Connors as only the second player to enter the ‘Century Club’.

On Saturday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Federer displayed a level of comfort on Centre Court that can be expected from someone who had previously won the event seven times. Trading body blows with 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Next Gen ATP champion 17 years his junior, the Swiss legend secured his 100th tour-level title with a 6-4, 6-4 win over the soon-to-be Greek World No. 10 in front of highly engaged, capacity crowd, which showed just how much they love Federer.

“It’s been a long, wonderful journey… I have loved every minute,” Federer said. “It’s been tough but the sacrifice has been very, very worthwhile and we’ll see how much more I’ve got left in the tank. Reaching 100 is an absolute dream come true for me.”

Having captured his first title in Milan in 2001 as a 19-year-old, Federer has scored at least one trophy in every season since. That's 19 consecutive years of sustained success at the highest level. His career has not only outlasted that Milan tournament (last held in 2005), but also the carpet surface it was played on (last used in 2008) and every other player in the draw, who have all retired since then.

There are no signs that his continued success will stop anytime soon. Although Federer trails the 109 titles that Connors racked up in his career, he’s won at least four titles in 16 of the past 18 seasons. If Federer can stay injury-free for a few more years, he’s playing well enough to catch and possibly surpass the American’s record.

But Federer said that chasing down Connors’ record 109 titles is not what motivates him to keep playing.

“I’m just happy that I’m still healthy, that I’ve got such a wonderful team, my family who have supported me for so, so long. I can’t thank them enough.

“If I reach milestones like this along the way it’s wonderful, but I’m really not here to shatter all the records. What Jimmy did was an unbelievable achievement and he should be proud of that. I’m proud of other things I have done. It was a special evening playing Stefanos and seeing the future coming up. It’s part of the journey.”

His milestone moment in Dubai is the latest of Federer's litany of staggering achievements. His greatest? It's impossible to choose just one. Federer has reigned atop the ATP Rankings for a record 310 weeks, including 237 in a row. He owns the most Grand Slam singles titles (20), Nitto ATP Finals crowns (6) and Wimbledon trophies (8) in the Open Era. He also stands alone with 24 consecutive wins vs. Top 10 opposition. But of all these accomplishments, securing 100 titles is arguably one of the most impressive.

In an era of titanic servers and baseline bombers, Federer's fluid, precision-oriented game has enabled him to dominate on the ATP World Tour for nearly two decades. No moment is too great and no shot too improbable. The Basel native has become an impervious force as he enters his late 30s, predicated on unyielding durability and the ability to excel on all surfaces.

Remarkably, of Federer's 100 titles, nearly a quarter of them came in consecutive finals from October 2003 to October 2005. It's a streak that will likely never be broken: 24 straight championship matches won. Over a span of two years, it was a guarantee that Federer would step onto a final stage and emerge with the trophy. He entered Vienna in 2003 with a 9-8 record in finals and emerged from Bangkok in 2005 with a stunning 33-8 mark.

The streak ended after an inspired David Nalbandian defeated him in a fifth-set tie-break in the championship match of the 2005 ATP Finals, but even that runner-up showing highlighted his dominance on tour. Federer had missed the previous six weeks nursing a right ankle injury and was on crutches just three weeks before arriving in Shanghai, yet still came within two points of taking the title.

But that championship match streak isn't the only impressive figure among Federer's 100 titles. The Swiss has won four titles without being broken throughout the tournament (Doha 2005, Halle 2008, Cincinnati 2012 & 2015) and owns five wins against World No. 1s in finals - three against Rafael Nadal and two against Novak Djokovic. In addition, he has successfully defended 35 of his titles and 15 of his final victories have come after losing the first set.

Regardless of where you play him, Federer is always up to the challenge. He has won titles on four different surfaces, from hard (69), grass (18), clay (11) and carpet (2). Federer also owns titles in 19 different countries, enjoying the majority of his success in the United States (22).

Federer has spread the love around multiple events during his storied career. He is the only player with seven or more crowns at five different tournaments, achieving the feat in Halle (9), Basel, (9), Wimbledon (8), Dubai (8) and Cincinnati (7).

As the Swiss maestro continues to push the limits and defy the odds, no record is safe. Having already made an indelible mark on the sport, he is proving that nothing is impossible.

Federer Fast Facts

Grand Slam titles: 20

Nitto ATP Finals titles: 6

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles: 27

ATP World Tour 500 titles: 22

ATP World Tour 250 titles: 25

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