Iga Swiatek defeated Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-2 in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The recent champion at the Qatar Open won her sixth consecutive match in the Middle East, all in straight sets, and now awaits the winner of the match between Anastasia Potapova (No. 35) and Qinwen Zheng (No. 7).
The Ukrainian entered as the 15th seed and progressed in her previous rounds by defeating Anhelna Kalnina and Tatjana Maria, both in straight sets. Svitolina won their most recent encounter with Swiatek in the fourth round at the 2023 Wimbledon in three sets.
The Polish tennis player put aside her inconsistent performance against Sloane Stephens the day before, and in the first set, she showed no issues with her service. Swiatek had a 71% first serve percentage and won 71% of them, crucial to not facing any break points against her during the set.
Svitolina only defended her first service game, but then came a consecutive string of games for Swiatek, who seized two of the three break opportunities to take a 6-1 lead in just 29 minutes.
The world No. 1 maintained the streak of consecutive games won and was 2-0 up at the start of the second set, securing another break in her first opportunity. Svitolina didn't give up and won a game again for the first time since the second game of the first set. The 29-year-old athlete surprised Swiatek by breaking in the next game and leveling the set 2-2.
The serve was a challenge for both players during the second set. They each secured a new break and were tied at 4-4, a crucial moment when Swiatek got the decisive break. Seizing her first opportunity, the 4-times Grand Slam champion moved ahead 5-4. Serving to close out the set, Swiatek had to save a break point against her before securing the set and finishing the match 6-1, 6-4.
Although the Polish player encountered some service issues in the latter part of the match, Swiatek remained dominant against an opponent who played well but simply couldn't overcome the world No. 1. Swiatek now awaits the winner of the clash between Anastasia Potapova (No. 35) and Zheng Qinwen (No. 7).
Swiatek d. Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-4 in Dubai Australia wasn’t the start to the year Iga wanted But she’s been flawless since ✅Won the last 12 sets she’s played ✅Won 24 of last 25 matches Showing all the qualities that make her the most dominant #1 we’ve had in years 🇵🇱❤️
