Dubai Duty Free Tennis: Swiatek juggernaut rolls on

Given the amount of noise her racquet has been making these last few months, it seems rather ironic that it’s Iga Swiatek who has completely lost her voice.

The world No1 from Poland continued her bulldozing run, losing just one game in a crushing 6-1, 6-0 win over 14th seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia in just 76 minutes at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals was the second seed and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who knocked out last year’s champion Jelena Ostapenko to maintain her streak this year with her 13th win.

Swiatek started 2022 ranked ninth in the world, but has been unstoppable since then, winning eight tournaments including the US Open and the French Open.

In 2023, she has already won a title when she triumphed last week in Doha.

The juggernaut shows no signs of stopping. In Tuesday’s second round, she brushed aside the challenge of Leylah Fernandez, and it was Samsonova's turn to face the music at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium last night.

Once she blunted the Russian's first serve, Swiatek dominated the second and won 19 out of 22 points in second serve return.

Unable to speak to the media, Swiatek responded to Khaleej Times on WhatsApp, and ‘texted’ that the match was much harder than what the scoreline suggested.

“The match was challenging. Ludmila has a powerful game and serve, so I was very happy I managed to return well and keep the pace. The level was much closer than the result shows. I felt good, I felt that my game was there and my plan was working so that was a good day,” said the 22-year-old.

“I don’t think it was easy at all. We had very tight games with a lot of big hitting and pressure coming from both of us. For me, the thing is not to focus on the outcome and result, but on the performance. And that match was solid.”

Swiatek next meets Czech Karolina Pliskova, who needed three sets to beat Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-2.

In their only previous head-to-head, Swiatek handed a double bagel 6-0, 6-0 defeat to Pliskova in the 2021 final in Rome.

However, Swiatek wasn’t taking anything for granted.

“I know that it’s natural to come with stats or history, but the truth is that every single match is a different story. And that is how I will treat this one as well,” said Swiatek.

“We will prepare, create a plan and just try to execute it. For me it absolutely doesn’t matter what was the result. Karolina is a great and experienced player who has a lot of tools. It will be challenging and, hopefully, a fun-to-watch match.”

Sabalenka looked in trouble against Ostapenko early in the match as the Latvian attacked her opponent’s second serves ferociously. The move paid dividends as she won the set, but once Sabalenka got her serves going in the second, she was on cruise mode.

Third seed Jessica Pegula of the USA beat Romanian Ana Bogdan 6-4, 6-3, while her compatriot, Madison Keys, took out an injured 15th seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-1.

Another injury, this time a lower back, forced Kazakhstan’s ninth seed Elena Rybakina to give a walkover to fifth seed Coco Gauff. Czech Karolina Muchova beat eighth seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-1, 6-4.

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