Iga Swiatek topples former champion Elina Svitolina in Dubai Championships third round
Feb 22, 2024
Dubai [UAE], February 22 : The World No. 1 Iga Swiatek produced a masterclass performance at Center Court to defeat two-time former champion Elina Svitolina in the third round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
With a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Ukrainian on Wednesday, the Polish number one took her winning streak in the Middle East to six straight.
"I felt like she played better in the second set. It wasn't that easy to just finish points and win points. I wanted to stay focused and proactive and kind of make decisions but not too risky. I felt like we were both good in the longer rallies, so I needed to really push in the right time to make pressure. I think decision-making and placement was the most important thing, I would say," Swiatek told reporters after the match as quoted by WTA.
After the one-hour, twenty-four-minute victory, Swiatek's record against Svitolina is now 2-1 all-time. Since losing to Jelena Ostaptenko in the US Open's fourth round last summer, Swiatek has won 25 of her previous 26 matches, including 13 straight against players ranked in the top 20.
The World No. 1 acknowledged that her ability to make decisions enabled her to win the match in straight sets. In the second set, she led 2-0 and 4-2 before putting an end to a Svitolina comeback by breaking at 4-4 and served out the match after saving a break point for 5-5.
For a place in the final four, she'll face No.6 seed Zheng Qinwen, who defeated Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-2.
"She's progressing, but I felt like I still could play good tennis against her. I don't know about Australia because I got to say I didn't see any of her match[es]. When I lost [in the third round to Linda Noskova], I just completely cut off any tennis in my life. So it's hard for me to say," Swiatek said.
"She's at this moment in her career, I mean everybody is when they're 21, 22, 23, when they're improving a lot," said the World No.1.
