Preview Women’s Quarterfinal 2025 Qatar Open: Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina battle again for semi-final spot
WTA
The Qatar Open will feature a rematch of last year’s final between Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina, as both players delivered in their respective quarter-final matches. Their 2024 Doha final was a thrilling battle, ultimately won by the Polish star.
World No. 2 Swiatek survived a tough test against Linda Noskova, a rising rivalry that now stands at 4-1 in favour of Swiatek. The 20-year-old Czech continues to challenge the Pole, and Wednesday’s match was no exception, with Noskova pushing her to the brink in the decider.
Rybakina stands in Swiatek’s way again
On the other side, Rybakina lived up to expectations by defeating Rebecca Šramková 7-6, 6-2. The Slovak had been one of the surprises of the tournament, taking out teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva in the previous round.
Rybakina is arguably Swiatek’s toughest opponent, consistently producing thrilling matches against her. Their 2024 Doha final ended in a 7-6(10), 6-3 victory for Swiatek, securing her third consecutive Qatar Open title. However, the head-to-head remains 4-3 in favour of Rybakina, making this semi-final clash a must-watch encounter.
With big names like Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, and Zheng Qinwen already out of the draw, this semi-final is undoubtedly the match of the day, featuring the tournament’s top contenders.
Their most recent meeting was at the United Cup earlier this year, a lower-pressure mixed-team event. Swiatek claimed a 7-6, 6-4 win, though both players struggled with form following a break in late 2024.
Swiatek now holds an 11-2 record in 2024, with her only losses coming against Gauff (United Cup) and Madison Keys (Australian Open semi-final)—where she even missed a match point. Rybakina stands at 10-3 for the season, with losses to Keys in Australia and Belinda Bencic in Abu Dhabi, where the Swiss went on to win the title.
Swiatek enters as a slight favourite, having never lost in Doha and chasing a fourth consecutive title in the tournament. However, if anyone can disrupt Swiatek’s dominance, it’s the 2022 Wimbledon champion, particularly given the Pole’s struggles against Noskova in the quarters.
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- Oooooo.... wow... tell us more... we just live each day waiting for "news" of these two women who don't know when to go away. Why do you keep posting their personal management's weekly press releases?
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
- they need to change the rules on the WTA to limit wildcards more effectively like they have on the ATPSososo06-02-2025
- This is just getting beyond ridiculous!! Not to mention unsportsmanlike and unfair to serious up & coming contenders.mandoist06-02-2025
- No, writer, we were not "stunned". If you knew your business you would have been aware of her statement last weekend re: her knee and retirement. The main take-away here is that Simona went out on her own terms. She surely wanted to play again after WTA & ITIA screwed her out of her final productive seasons. Personally, I believed she was going to make this announcement when I saw the President and his family in their box seats. Good for Simone -- now she can move on to other things as she said she would.mandoist04-02-2025
- 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
