Swiatek defeats Rybakina to win third consecutive Qatar Open

Top seed Iga Swiatek won the Qatar Open for the third year in a row, defeating world number four Elena Rybakina 7-6(8) 6-2 in the final on Saturday.

The 22-year-old Pole, who won her 12th straight match in Doha, became the first player to win a singles title at the same event in three years since Serena Williams did so in Miami from 2013 to 2015.

The victory also improved her head-to-head record against Rybakina to 3-2, after losing all three meetings last year.

Swiatek got off to a slow start, falling behind 4-1 in a roller-coaster first set before the four-time Grand Slam champion gradually found her groove to tie things up at 4-4.

After the set went to a tiebreaker, the momentum shifted back and forth before Swiatek closed out the 90-minute set with a well-placed backhand winner.

"It was really long, I wasn't expecting that. It was really tough," Swiatek said while describing the marathon first set.

"I came here and was pretty stressed... I felt the expectations. I wanted to do everything step-by-step, as I always do, and it worked... I'm really happy. I'm really proud of myself."

"Congrats to Elena for a great tournament and to her team. We have already played so many tough matches that I think it's going to be great if we continue, have fun and give a nice experience to the fans."

Rybakina had taken a medical timeout after hitting her own leg during the first set, which appeared to impede the 24-year-old Kazakh, as Swiatek wasted no time in taking the second set and securing her first WTA 1000 title of the season.

Despite her defeat, Rybakina said she took many positives from her second final in as many weeks, having won the Abu Dhabi Open the previous Sunday.

"It's been a great last two weeks ... I didn't expect to see so much support. It really helps, especially when it's such tough matches," Rybakina said.

SportsLigue