Iga Swiatek of Poland returns the ball to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus during their quarter-final match at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, yesterday.
Iga Swiatek yesterday staged a dominant show to eliminate top seed Aryna Sabalenka from the Qatar Total Energies Open at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
The seventh seed Polish recorded a 6-2, 6-3 win against the World No.2 to move into the semi-finals, where she will take on Greek Maria Sakkari, who put an end to Coco Gauff’s run in Doha.
“I thought that this is a really important match. But on the other hand, I wanted to stay focused and do the same job as I did in the last few rounds. And I knew Aryana is going to play strong. So, I was ready for everything and I’m really happy that my mental game was on point,” the 20-year-old Swiatek said after yesterday’s win.
Swiatek, who was much more effective winning after first serves, converted seven of her eight break points on her way to the memorable win.
Earlier, Sakkari reached her sixth semi-final at WTA 1000 after a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Gauff.
Sakkari revealed that she had started the week after requiring hospital treatment.
“I was in the hospital all Monday morning. I had a very sharp pain in my lower stomach. I just didn’t know if I was going to be able to play this tournament, because I was very, very bad, like I was dying. Three hours before the match, I just left the hospital,” Sakkari said.
“Three days later, I’m in the semi-final, which gave me actually a lot of confidence, because it shows how much mental strength I have and of course physical strength, as well.
Also joining the semi-final line-up was No.4 seed Anett Kontaveit as she dispatched Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour and 11 minutes.
“I thought the level was very good,” she said afterwards.
“I felt like she was hitting an ace, I was hitting a winner, she was hitting a good serve, I was hitting a winner. At times it was just kind of fun because I felt like the level was really good and I was playing really well,” the Estonian said after her first win in a completed match since 2014 against the Tunisian World No: 10.
Meanwhile, Jelena Ostapenko, No.15 seed from Latvia dismissed No.5 seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-2, 6-2 to extend her winning run.
It took 2016 Doha runner-up Ostapenko just 66 minutes to defeat Muguruza, a two-time Doha finalist including just last year, and collect a new career-best streak of nine wins in a row.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match against her,” Ostapenko said in her post-match press conference. “But I really knew I also have to be aggressive and take time away from her, which I think I did pretty well, and I was dictating the game today.
“Of course it’s great to have so many matches winning, but the tournament is still not over. I hope I can keep winning here still in Doha. I’m just working on some things and getting more confident, and I think it’s going to help my game.”
