Iga Swiatek extends Doha dominance in straight sets surge past Elena Rybakina at Qatar Open
Match Report
Iga Swiatek is the favourite to claim yet another Qatar Open title this weekend after seeing off Elena Rybakina 6-2, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals.
Always it was going to be the case that one of the top names was going to fall at this point with Rybakina also reaching the final last year and after failing to defend her title last week in Abu Dhabi also seems likely to fall further down the rankings.
It is 15 consecutive wins for Swiatek at the Qatar Open. Rybakina was on the front foot early with Swiatek surging into a 2-0 lead with a break of serve. She consolidated and broke again to claim the set 6-2.
The second was more on the racquet of Rybakina but she couldn't force the impetus as she went 3-1 and 4-2 up and was playing a lot better tennis than in the first as she finally found her footing. But she was broken to make it 4-4 which was the beginning of the end. Swiatek held to make it 5-4 spurning off break point chances.
Swiatek held again for 6-5 and then broke serve to claim the win. Her task is perhaps furthered depending on who she will face next. Jelena Ostapenko has a superb record against Swiatek, so Jabeur will be the most favoured out of the two.
In the top half, it will be Ekaterina Alexandrova taking on the winner of Anisimova v Kostyuk who will face off later. The Russian took down Jessica Pegula in a superb win earlier this afternoon and could face Swiatek in the final to attempt to stop her winning a fourth straight title in Doha.
Alexandrova has been in red hot form winning Linz and now reaching the semi-final in Doha and will have her sights on a final spot in a good section of the draw.
Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT 🗣️
— wta (@WTA) February 13, 2025
@iga_swiatek extends her dominant Doha record with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Rybakina to reach the semifinals!
#QatarTotalEnergiesOpen pic.twitter.com/HZtazCB7AX
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mandoist11-02-2025 - Hard to believe Emma "understands" all that much about the rigors of a prioritized Life in tennis.mandoist11-02-2025
- "Intensified" ??? Yeah, right. Nothing has changed... nothing has "intensified"; only continued.mandoist10-02-2025
- Bencic is all business right now. If Rybakina is the ice queen, then Bencic is Antarctica—colder, sharper, and seemingly unstoppable. 🔥❄️MrAndreeva07-02-2025
- Creepy.mandoist07-02-2025
- Ouch!!mandoist07-02-2025
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- This is just getting beyond ridiculous!! Not to mention unsportsmanlike and unfair to serious up & coming contenders.mandoist06-02-2025
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- It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025
