Iga Swiatek was able to beat the 15th seed, Elina Svitolina in the third round of the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships.
The first seed put on a stunning performance when she beat Ukrainian tennis player Svitolina 6-1, 6-4, thus adding to her list of wins in the Middle East this season to six wins in a row.
The Doha champion last week snatched seven games in a row from 1-1 in the first set to put herself in a good position against Svitolina, who won their last meeting in three sets in the Wimbledon quarter-finals last season, and remained impressive in the second set. It was a tighter match, where a combination of five break point opportunities were created by both players, before he ensured that he would advance to the quarter-finals at the Dubai Tennis Championships for the second time in a row.
READ ALSO : Rinky Hijikata and Jordan Thompson work together to win in Los Cabos
Now, the Polish tennis player is leading 2-1 in the head to head against the Ukrainian tennis player, Svitolina after 1 hour 24 minutes. Apart from that, she has also now won 25 of the last 26 matches she has played since losing to Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round of the US Open last season and she now has 13 consecutive wins over players ranked in the top 20.
“I felt she played better in the second set,” admitted Swiatek. “It’s not easy to finish points or win points.”
“I want to stay focused, proactive and make decisions, but not too risky. And I felt we both performed well in the longer rallies, so I really had to corner him at the right time to apply pressure. I think decision making and positioning are the most important things, I think.”
The next task for the top seed is another rematch. For a place in the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, she will meet the sixth seed, Zheng Qinwen, who defeated Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-2.
Iga Swiatek has so far dominated their head to head with 5-0. They last met last month at the United Cup – a few weeks before Zheng reached the Australian Open final – and the Polish national won in straight sets.
