Iga Swiatek charged to her first title of the season on Saturday, as the No.7 seed from Poland cruised past No.4 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-2, 6-0 to win the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha.
In an overpowering display of all-court mastery, Swiatek took just over an hour to sweep to victory at the WTA 1000 event and end St. Petersburg champion Kontaveit's nine-match winning streak.
Fast facts: Swiatek has now racked up four WTA singles titles in her career, and it is her second WTA 1000 crown. Her previous WTA 1000 title came in Rome last year, where she dispatched Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 in the final.
Swiatek famously triumphed at the clay-court Grand Slam event at Roland Garros in 2020 for her first career title, but she now has just as many hard-court titles as clay-court titles in her career, with two apiece.
The 20-year-old Pole continues to dominate in finals once she gets to them. Since her only runner-up finish on tour, at Lugano in 2019, Swiatek has dropped a total of 11 games in the four finals she has won:
Kontaveit came into the match having reached more finals and won more matches than anyone on tour since the start of 2021 — this was her ninth final during that stretch, and she has prevailed in 61 matches within that timeframe.
But Swiatek refused to fall into any of Kontaveit's traps on the day, winning a staggering 66 percent of points returning the Kontaveit serve and saving six of the seven break points she faced (six of which came in the first set).
Swiatek is now 3-2 against Kontaveit, and the Pole has won their last three meetings, including at Roland Garros and the US Open last season. Swiatek has now won three matches in a row against Top 10 opposition this week, improving to 8-7 overall against that cohort.
Command performance: After falling behind an early break to Swiatek, Kontaveit looked to be back in the hunt after she slammed a forehand winner down the line to break back for 2-2. However, that would prove to be her final appearance on the scoreboard.
Swiatek quickly regained her break lead in the following game, then kept using aggressive returns to take control of many points from the outset. Serving for the set at 5-2, Swiatek calmly erased two break points before closing out the one-set lead.
There were almost no problems for Swiatek in the second set, which she raced through in less than half an hour. Kontaveit kept games close in the opening stages of the set, but there was no stopping the Swiatek power game as the Polish player continued her sterling form in finals.
In an overpowering display of all-court mastery, Swiatek took just over an hour to sweep to victory at the WTA 1000 event and end St. Petersburg champion Kontaveit's nine-match winning streak.
Fast facts: Swiatek has now racked up four WTA singles titles in her career, and it is her second WTA 1000 crown. Her previous WTA 1000 title came in Rome last year, where she dispatched Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 in the final.
Swiatek famously triumphed at the clay-court Grand Slam event at Roland Garros in 2020 for her first career title, but she now has just as many hard-court titles as clay-court titles in her career, with two apiece.
The 20-year-old Pole continues to dominate in finals once she gets to them. Since her only runner-up finish on tour, at Lugano in 2019, Swiatek has dropped a total of 11 games in the four finals she has won:
Iga Swiatek’s last 4 finals: 2020 Roland Garros: 64 61, Kenin 2021 Adelaide: 62 62, Bencic 2021 Rome: 60 60, Pliskova 2022 Doha: 62 60, Kontaveit Lost a total of 2 games in her 2 WTA 1000 finals.
Kontaveit came into the match having reached more finals and won more matches than anyone on tour since the start of 2021 — this was her ninth final during that stretch, and she has prevailed in 61 matches within that timeframe.
But Swiatek refused to fall into any of Kontaveit's traps on the day, winning a staggering 66 percent of points returning the Kontaveit serve and saving six of the seven break points she faced (six of which came in the first set).
Swiatek is now 3-2 against Kontaveit, and the Pole has won their last three meetings, including at Roland Garros and the US Open last season. Swiatek has now won three matches in a row against Top 10 opposition this week, improving to 8-7 overall against that cohort.
Command performance: After falling behind an early break to Swiatek, Kontaveit looked to be back in the hunt after she slammed a forehand winner down the line to break back for 2-2. However, that would prove to be her final appearance on the scoreboard.
Swiatek quickly regained her break lead in the following game, then kept using aggressive returns to take control of many points from the outset. Serving for the set at 5-2, Swiatek calmly erased two break points before closing out the one-set lead.
There were almost no problems for Swiatek in the second set, which she raced through in less than half an hour. Kontaveit kept games close in the opening stages of the set, but there was no stopping the Swiatek power game as the Polish player continued her sterling form in finals.
What can I say about Iga Swiatek when it comes to finals?.
They seem to always bring out her best level. I really think that Sakkari win the day prior was a real weight off her shoulders.
She played with real abandon because she already achieved such a huge mile stone by finally beating her Greek rival.
In doing so it showed that she felt fearless on court today.
The skill with which she was able to return Kontaveit's serve was something to marvel at.
I did not expect this level of dominance from Iga given how unbeatable Anett has been going back to last year.
Iga beat the 2nd most in-form hard court player (the other being Ostapendko) with such extreme ease, it was almost otherworldly.
She now owns 4 titles, one of which a Grand Slam at 20 years old.
This girl's talent knows no bounds.
Agnieszka Radwandska made 5 semi finals in Doha but never won it, or a Grand Slam in her whole career.
What Iga achieved, and keeps achieving in her young career is beyond incredible.
Well done Iga!.
Enjoy this win to the fullest, get some well deserved rest.
You've made Poland so proud. See you at Indian Wells.
Jazda!
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