World number one Iga Swiatek moved closer to a third successive Qatar TotalEnergies Open WTA 1000 title when she brushed aside Victoria Azarenka in straight sets in the quarter-finals on Thursday. Swiatek claimed a 6-4, 6-0 win in 74 minutes and will face either fellow four-time Grand Slam title winner Naomi Osaka or Karolina Pliskova for a place in Saturday’s final.
Polish 22-year-old Swiatek is now 12-1 at the tournament with her only defeat coming in the 2020 second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Former world number one Azarenka, the 2012 and 2013 champion in Doha, double-faulted in the ninth game to hand Swiatek the first break. The top seed served it out before racing through the second set without facing a break point. Swiatek ended the encounter with 17 winners to just five from Azarenka.
Swiatek is bidding to become the first player to win a WTA Tour event three consecutive times since Serena Williams prevailed at the Miami Open in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Like Swiatek, Azarenka won her Doha titles back-to-back, over a decade ago in 2012 and 2013. Azarenka brought her Doha championship experience to the first set and was a point away from breaking Swiatek for a 5-3 lead. But the top seed got out of that jam, then earned a break point of her own at 4-4 behind a barrage of blistering backhands. Azarenka double faulted to cede that game and put Swiatek up a break, and the Pole routinely served out the set from there.
The second set was much more straightforward, as Swiatek romped through it without facing a break point. Swiatek went 5-for-6 on break points on the day, and she ended the match with 17 winners to just five from Azarenka.
Earlier, Elena Rybakina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova set-up a semi-final clash. Third seed and former Wimbledon champion Rybakina came from 4-2 down in the first set to defeat 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-2. Pavlyuchenkova secured her first 1000-level hardcourt semi-final in 14 years with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Danielle Collins of the United States.
“I hope it will be a good match, we know each other well, both on and off the court,” said Rybakina, last weekend’s champion in Abu Dhabi, of her clash with Pavlyuchenkova.
Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 32 in the world, needed one hour and 34 minutes to see off Collins, a former world number seven who had to qualify this week. The Russian’s only stutter came in the first set when she coughed up a 5-2 lead but she regrouped to take it 7-5 and went on to claim victory on her first match point.
“I was injured for a long time, so I’m happy to be back and able to fight on all points, and victories give me confidence,” said Pavlyuchenkova in the post-match on-court interview. “I’ve been working a lot on the mental aspect and I feel like it’s paying off,” added the 32-year-old, a finalist at the French Open in 2021.