World number 1 Iga Swiatek beat two-time former world champion Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-4 after 1 hour and 24 minutes in the third round at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Swiatek has extended her winning streak to six straight victories in the Middle East after claiming the Doha title last year.
Swiatek won seven consecutive games from 1-1 in the first set. The Polish player won a tighter second set that featured five consecutive breaks to reach the quarter finals in Dubai for the second consecutive year.
Swiatek earned leads of 2-0 and 4-2 in the second set before breaking serve to take a 5-4 lead. She served out the win after saving a break point for 5-5.
Swiatek avenged her defeat to Svitolina, who beat her Polish opponent in three sets in the quarter finals at Wimbledon last year. Svitolina has returned from a back injury she sustained at last January’s Australian Open.
Swiatek now leads 2-1 in her three head-to-head matches against Svitolina. The four-time Grand Slam champion has won 25 of her last 26 matches dating back to a fourth-round defeat to Jelena Ostapenko. She has extended her winning streak to 13 matches against top-20 players.
Swiatek will face either Zheng Qinwen or Anastasia Potapova in the quarter final.
Swiatek finished runner-up in the final in Dubai last year.
“I really wanted to improve my focus compared to yesterday. I am happy I did not lose my focus and I remembered what I have to do and it worked. I was a little bit calmer than I was yesterday”, said Swiatek.
Coco Gauff came back from one set down to beat Karolina Pliskova 2-6 6-4 6-3 reaching her second consecutive quarter final in Dubai. Gauff stopped Pliskova’s 11 match winning streak. The Czech player claimed her first title since 2020 at Cluj Napoca and reached the semifinal in Doha before withdrawing ahead of her scheduled semifinal match against Swiatek due to injury.
Gauff has won 23 of her last 24 matches players ranked outside of the top 20. The US player has reached the quarter finals or better in three of her last four appearances in Dubai, where she advanced to the semifinal last year. The young US player has reached her third quarter final in 2024 after winnin her second title in Auckland and reaching her first Australian Open semifinal.
Gauff saved two break points in the first game of the third set before earning a decisive break with a forehand down the line to take a 5-3 lead. Pliskova earned two break points in the final game, but Gauff pulled back to deuce with her strong serves. The US player sealed the win on her second match point with her unreturned serve.
Gauff set up a quarter final match against this year’s Australian Open quarter finalist Anna Kalinskaya, who beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-4 7-5 in 93 minutes.
