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 World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek have both withdrawn from the upcoming WTA Masters 1000 event.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 ends Doha campaign in the quarters with loss to Sakkari

After an opening set in which Maria Sakkari absorbed the full brunt of Iga Swiatek’s dominance, it looked as if her own strong run in Doha was about to end.

Instead, the former World No. 3 flipped the match on its head. She was the better player in the second and third sets, rallying to post a stunning 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over the current World No. 2 in just about two and a half and hours. The win sends Sakkari into the Doha semifinals for the third time in her career and the first time in three years.

It also marked her first win over Swiatek in five years, snapping a four-match losing streak in their WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz head-to-head. With Thursday’s result, the series is now level at 4-4.

“I’m speechless because it’s been a while since I had a big win like today,” Sakkari said in her on-court interview. “When you drop in the rankings and you’re not playing good tennis, you start doubting yourself. And you’re thinking that you’re never going to beat those players again.

“So it’s a huge process that you have to go through in your head, that you know you can do it. Last year in the second round here against (Swiatek), I was not confident. I was not believing in myself. And this year, it’s different. I feel quite a lot better.”

It’s her first win over a Top 5 player since she defeated Coco Gauff in Miami 2024. More importantly, it extends a week in which Sakkari has seemingly rediscovered the level that once carried her into and kept her inside the Top 10 for the better part of three years.

She opened the tournament with three consecutive straight-set victories over Zeynep Sonmez, No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini and Varvara Gracheva en route to the quarterfinals before toppling Swiatek. In doing so, she dethroned the Doha queen, handing Swiatek just her third loss in 21 matches at the event in a thrilling bit of theater that unfolded over three acts.

Act 1: Same old Iga

As is often the case when Swiatek steps on court, she entered as a heavy favorite. She had beaten Sakkari four straight time -- all in straight sets -- and was coming off a Round of 16 win in which she shook off a slow start against Daria Kasatkina before dominating the final two sets, dropping just two games between them.

She continued that momentum into Thursday’s opening set. After breaking for a 3-2 lead with a forehand winner, she reeled off four straight games to take the set in just 33 minutes. It was the result of quintessential Swiatek efficiency: she won 13 of 14 first-serve points, claimed nearly half the points on return and converted both break points she earned.

Act 2: Sakkari strikes back

But Sakkari refused to fold. She surged ahead 3-0 and then 4-1 in the second set, leaning heavily on her backhand -- a weapon that would serve her well again later.

Swiatek responded by winning three straight games, punctuated by a hold to love to level at 4-all. She then earned two break points that, if converted, would’ve allowed her to serve for the match, but Sakkari saved both. She cemented the hold with a forehand winner followed by an on-target body serve on game point.

Sakkari then broke Swiatek with ease in the next game to take the second set and force a decider, marking the first time the pair had ever gone the distance in eight meetings

Act 3: Return of Sakkari

The final set delivered the evening’s peak drama. After Swiatek recovered from 0-30 to hold for 1-1, Sakkari struck first two games later, breaking for a 3-1 lead. It sparked a run of three straight breaks before Sakkari became the first to consolidate, racing ahead 5-2 to move within a game of victory.

She opened the game with a forehand winner, but Swiatek again applied pressure, earning two break points. Sakkari saved the second with a brilliant backhand pass, her first point won on second serve in the decider after starting 0-for- 5.

Swiatek mounted one last push, mirroring the one she made in the second set, and won three straight games. She held for 5-3, then broke Sakkari as she was serving for the match in a game that included a tense video review of a possible double bounce. The call eventually went Sakkari’s way, but Swiatek secured the break a few points later anyway. She then saved a match point with her best serve of the day -- an ace out wide --and held once more to level at 5-5.

But as she had shown all week, Sakkari was undeterred. She halted Swiatek's run with a hold to love for 6-5, then converted her third match point when Swiatek missed a brutal volley at the net, sealing one of the biggest wins of her career.

With the victory, Sakkari became the first player to defeat Swiatek in a WTA 1000 match after losing the opening set, dropping Swiatek’s record in such matches to 109-1. She also reached her 11th career WTA 100 semifinal, and her first since she reached the final at Indian Wells in 2024. It’s her first tour-level semifinal of any kind since Charleston 2024.

She’ll face Karolina Muchova, who defeated Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-4 Thursday, for a spot in her first final in two years -- the last coming at Indian Wells. Sakkari is 0-4 against Muchova at the WTA level, though she does own a win over the Czech from an ITF event in Sharm El Sheikh in 2016.


"I'm really happy I was able to turn that second set," Muchova said to WTA Media. "I got that break back and was able to finish in two because it's very late and tomorrow's another match.

"I watched (Sakkari's) match today against Iga, and they both played incredible. It's going to be a tough one but very happy to be in the semis".

wtatennis.com

Seems like the 2nd set concentration issues continue to be a concern for Iga. Part of that might be that she has lost a lot of her locker room aura over the past couple of years (especially after losing at Roland Garros last year and not winning a title on the clay). 

She got it back at Wimbledon a little, but not quite on the hard courts. 

So because her aura eroded somewhat all players have more belief that if they hang around and fight even after losing the first set they can beat Iga. 

Hopefully Iga can find that mental toughness and concentration back which will in turn help get her front runner confidence back so she can close matches in straights. 

I'm staying positive that she'll rediscover it again before this hard court swing is through, I'll only slightly panic if she doesn't find it on the clay in April. 

Despite this loss it was nice to see her being brave and using variety with slices, dropshots and coming to the net. It's the kind of variety she had pre-Wiktorowski before she was even a top ten household name. 

So really encouraging in that respect, you can see she's putting in the work it just hasn't quite clicked yet. 

Contrary to what internet couch experts think it's going to take time, whether it's the serve (which is everyone's chief complaint) or anything else in her game.

Of course it's extremely hard to find time to work on improving anything while on tour so I'm still very much curious to see which tournaments Iga decides to skip. 

Something tells me it won't be Dubai next week, simply because Rybakina is so close to Iga in ranking points that she might want to at least give herself a chance to defend them (I believe she reached the quarters last year). 

Hell Rybakina almost became #2 today but but a defeat to young Canadian Vicky Mboko helped to delay that for the moment. 

As I said during Aussie Open my best bet would be on Iga skipping Miami or possibly Indian Wells (though she has semi final points to defend). Miami would give her more time to prepare for the clay so it'd make more sense (though she's got quarterfinal points to defend as well).

Tough choice indeed, but I really hope she makes one here. It would really benefit her in the long run this year I think.

Believe in the process Iga, see you in the next tournament (where ever that will be). 

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek battles past Kasatkina to make another Doha Quarterfinal

 

Top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland advanced to the quarterfinals of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open with a three-set win over Australia's Daria Kasatkina on Wednesday in Doha.

Swiatek had not lost more than three games in a set against Kasatkina in their previous six meetings on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz and looked set to continue that streak as she built a 5-3 lead in the opening set. But Kasatkina, a former world No. 8, rallied to win the next four games and take the set 7-5.

The Pole responded by winning the next two sets for the loss of just two games to complete a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory in 2 hours, 17 minutes. She improves to 7-1 lifetime against Kasatkina.

Swiatek converted eight of 18 break points (44.4%), while the Australian converted four of 12 (33.3%). Kasatkina also struggled on her second serve, winning 24.1% of second-serve points (7 of 29).

"It wasn't an easy match," she said to press. "Even in second and third set I had to do a lot to win rallies against Daria. I think I gave her more chances. She used the slower surface here, and she was going for it more, compared to last matches.

"I felt like I could do sometimes more in the first set. Yeah, didn't really adjust well to the colder conditions and the wind. For sure it's a lesson for next days."

Swiatek, who won the title in Doha three consecutive years from 2022-24, is through to the quarterfinals here for the fifth time in her career. Only Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska have reached the quarterfinals in Doha more often, with six each.

Swiatek will next face former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari, who beat France’s Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 6-0 to reach the last eight.

Sakkari has now won three consecutive WTA main-draw matches for the first time since reaching the round of 16 in Madrid last year and for the first time on hard court since reaching the Indian Wells final two years ago.

Sakkari won the first three meetings between the pair, all in straight sets in 2021. Swiatek has since won their next four meetings, also all in straight sets, including a 6-3, 6-2 win in the second round here last year.

“Iga is very solid but at the same time, she's very aggressive,” Sakkari said after her win vs. Gracheva. “She moves the ball really well. She moves very good on the court. She doesn't give you a lot of errors. So it's going to be a huge challenge for me. When we played last year here, it was an easy score but it wasn't an easy match, I have to say.”

Likewise, Swiatek is also prepared, heading into the match with a with four straight wins against Sakkari.

"Overall I think my level improved in 2022 so I could do a bit more, had more variety, and could push a little bit more," Swiatek said. "But against Maria, it's always tough. It's always like every game matters, every point matters."

wtatennis.com

1 - Iga Swiatek now has reached the quarterfinals in 61.9% (26/42) of the WTA-1000 events she has appeared in, surpassing Serena Williams (61.2%, 30/49) for the best since the format introduction in 2009. Stunning.


5 - Iga Swiatek is only the second player to reach the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open in five consecutive years after Agnieszka Radwanska between 2012-16. Victory.

Iga Swiatek opens Doha campaign with confident win

Top-seeded Iga Swiatek scored a comfortable straight-sets win over Indonesian wild card Janice Tjen to reach the third round of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha on Tuesday.

Playing her first match since a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open, Swiatek dominated the opening set, dropping just eight points in a 6-0 win.

The second set was more competitive as Tjen displayed the form that has seen her rise from outside the top 400 at the start of the 2025 season to her current ranking of No. 46 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. After the players traded early breaks, Swiatek broke in the eighth game and held to close out a 6-0, 6-3 victory in 1 hour, 9 minutes.

23: Swiatek improved to 23 career match-wins combined in Doha and Dubai. Only former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki has more (25) since the WTA 1000 format was introduced in 2009.

31: Swiatek has won 31 consecutive WTA-level matches against players ranked outside the top 20. Her last loss to a player outside the top 20 came in Rome last May, when she fell to Danielle Collins in the round of 32.

32: Swiatek extended her streak of consecutive opening-match wins at WTA 1000 events to 32. Her last opening-match loss at a WTA 1000 came in Cincinnati in 2021 against Ons Jabeur

36: Swiatek recorded her 36th 6-0 set at WTA 1000 events, the most by any player since the format’s introduction in 2009. When asked if she ever thought about giving away a game to her opponents when it comes to such situations, Swiatek responded, "I think when I was younger, I felt that way, but later on, you just want to win it. It's sports. It doesn't make sense to stop or to play 80%. I'm there to perform my best, so I felt always that you wouldn't be respectful towards the opponent if give them something, because we're here to play our best. I always try to just focus on myself and that's it."

72: Swiatek is now 72-0 in opening matches across her last 72 WTA events played, including the United Cup and WTA Finals. Her last opening match loss at a WTA event came against Maria Sakkari at the 2021 WTA Finals in Guadalajara.

"It's always nice to start a tournament in a solid way and I'm ready for every match," Swiatek said when asked about this streak by the media in Doha. "I think that's the reason for that. I don't take anything for granted, so even first rounds or second rounds, I treat them as super important matches and as a challenge. So I'm ready for it from the beginning."

Swiatek will next face former top-10 player Daria Kasatkina in the Round of 16. The Australian scored a 6-4, 6-0 win over 16h seed Elise Mertens of Belgium earlier in the day.

Swiatek leads the head-to-head 6-1 over Kasatkina and has won their last six meetings without dropping a set. But she is not taking the match lightly.

"Honestly I try not to think about head-to-head because every match is a different story," Swiatek said. "She can come to the match feeling that she has nothing to lose. There are different ways the match can go, and I wouldn't say that focusing on the last results gives a lot. I'd rather stay ready for the challenge and not really think about the previous ones."

wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek Doha 2026 photoshoot

 

Iga Swiatek falls short of the Career Slam at Melbourne

Well it didn't go the way we wanted even though Iga had plenty of chances in the first set with Rybakina serving below 50 percent and clearly feeling nervous. 

Once she relaxed more the aces started to flow and that was pretty much it. 

I will always be left wondering what would have happed had Iga kept that first game break she had and won that first set. 

It might have gone 3 or Iga might have actually won the match being such a great front runner. 

Sadly we'll never know and the Career Grand Slam will have to wait another year. 

While online aka "couch expert" debates rage on about Iga needing to change her coach and firing her sports psychologist, I'm actually feeling encouraged with her post match press comments. 

I'm also encouraged that she's sticking with playing less WTA 1000 tournaments this year. 

It'll be interesting to see which ones she skips (something tells me it won't be the Middle East since she loves the conditions there). 

My bet would be on Indian Wells or Miami.

At the moment her game is very clearly a work in progress, she is changing things but as she herself admits for her it's a slow process and will take time. 

As she says not everyone is Carlos Alcaraz who can change his serve motion every year and have it be a success. 

I think all of us Iga fans got so spoiled with Iga being dominant for so long and winning everything. 

Well the game and other players have evolved Iga's game is going through a period of transition in order to adjust, but I truly believe she'll get there. 

I think like Iga herself the fans will just have to be patient.

Till then we'll support and enjoy things as they are, because they will get better.

Thank you for your efforts Iga.

Stay strong, trust the process and see you in the Middle East.

Jazda!.

Honestly this entire tournament has been a total dud with so many straight set wins on both men's and women's side of the draw. 

I find myself once again rooting for and counting on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to go through and bring some excitement on the last Sunday in the finals. 

Because Sabalenka vs Rybakina just doesn't do it for me (sorry WTA).

Iga Swiatek makes it 14 Grand Slam Quarterfinals at Melbourne

 No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek reached her 14th career Grand Slam quarterfinal and third at the Australian Open with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of qualifier Maddison Inglis in 73 minutes.

There are few new situations for six-time major champion Swiatek on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz at this stage of her career, but this matchup did mark one first for Swiatek. She had never previously faced an Australian opponent at the Australian Open.

Swiatek was unfazed, allowing neither No. 168-ranked Inglis nor the Rod Laver Arena crowd to get a foothold in the match. The first "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" chants rang out as Inglis, trailing 3-0 in the first set, reached her first game point of the day. They didn't last long. Swiatek slammed that door shut by swatting away a smash and minutes later had captured the double break en route to a whitewash set.

Inglis raised her hands to the sky when she finally got on the board at the start of the second set, capturing the Swiatek serve as the former World No. 1 mishit a backhand. But with a point to lead 2-0, she sent a forehand wide, and Swiatek wasted no time in regaining her intensity in another run of four straight games.

Though Inglis battled hard, her increased level frequently provided the canvas for Swiatek to show off more of her repertoire: a superb drop shot-pass combination at 2-1, a brilliant pickup in the subsequent game and several sharp volleys.

Swiatek's one-two punch to convert her first match point set up a quarterfinal clash against No. 5 seed Elena Rybakina. Swiatek leads their head-to-head 6-5 (including 4-2 on outdoor hard courts), but Rybakina won their only previous Australian Open meeting 6-4, 6-4 in the 2023 fourth round.

Not that those numbers are on Swiatek's mind.

"I wouldn't say head-to-head matters," she said. "Because even when one of us was winning, it was always, I don't know, a tight match or she beat me easy. Doesn't matter. Doesn't make sense to overanalyze who won the last ones or how it has been looking.

"Every match is a different story. Like on every match she's been a tough opponent, and her tennis for sure is great. I need to be 100% ready and go for it and use my experience and also the knowledge from previous matches, and that's it."

Here are the key numbers from Swiatek's win:

33: The first set was the 33rd 6-0 set Swiatek has won in a Grand Slam main draw. It was her sixth at the Australian Open, following her defeats of Harriet Dart


(6-3, 6-0 in the 2022 first round), Cristina Bucsa


(6-0, 6-1 in the 2023 third round), Rebecca Sramkova


(6-0, 6-2 in the 2025 second round), Emma Raducanu


(6-1, 6-0 in the 2025 third round) and Eva Lys


(6-0, 6-1 in the 2025 fourth round).


6: Swiatek has reached her sixth consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. At 24 years old, she is the youngest player to accomplish this since Serena Williams between Roland Garros 2002 and Wimbledon 2003. The last time Swiatek lost before the last eight of a major was at Wimbledon 2024, to Yulia Putintseva in the third round.

24: World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has also reached six consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals (she is on an overall streak of 13, not counting her absence from Wimbledon 2024). It's 24 years since two players both reached six major quarterfinals in a row -- the last time was between Wimbledon 2001 and the US Open 2002, when Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati put together simultaneous streaks.

6: Swiatek's win completes the 2026 Australian Open quarterfinal lineup. It includes all Top 6 seeds in the draw -- No. 1 Sabalenka, No. 2 Swiatek, No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, No. 5 Rybakina and No. 6 Jessica Pegula. 

The last time all Top 6 seeds made the last eight of a major was at the 1998 US Open -- No. 1 Martina Hingis, No. 2 Lindsay Davenport, No. 3 Jana Novotna, No. 4 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, No. 5 Venus Williams and No. 6 Monica Seles.

The last time this occurred at the Australian Open was in 1991 -- No. 1 Stefanie Graf, No. 2 Seles, No. 3 Mary Joe Fernandez, No. 4 Gabriela Sabatini, No. 5 Katerina Maleeva and No. 6 Sánchez Vicario.

The Top 6 ATP seeds have also all reached the quarterfinals this week -- No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 2 Jannik Sinner, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, No. 4 Novak Djokovic, No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti and No. 6 Alex De Minaur. It is the first time in the Open Era that the Top 6 WTA and ATP seeds have all made the last eight of one major.

wtatennis.com

Well we've reached the point where the challenge ramps up to a 100. Iga vs Rybakina will be the first real test of where Iga's level is. 

In the past I would have been really anxious with this match up, but Iga has really turned around the H2H in the last year and has figured out what works with Rybakina.  

So I really think if she can find her first serve we could be in for a highly competitive match.

It won't be easy but certainly doesn't feel impossible the way it used to.

I'm still not happy with Iga losing concentration in 2nd sets (granted this one could have just been the 6/0 score line). 

But it's going to be tough to win against the big hitters that are left if she can't keep her level all the way through. 

So I hope she can find a way to lock in and remind everyone again exactly why she's a 6 time Grand Slam Champion.

Jazda Iga, keep that belief and fight.