Swiatek eases past Svitolina to advance to Dubai quarter-finals, Gauff survives Pliskova challenge
Iga Swiatek advanced to the last eight of the Dubai Championships with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Elina Svitolina.
The world number one extended her unbeaten streak against the WTA's top 20 players to 13 matches, and the Pole appeared at ease throughout against her Ukrainian opponent, who has won this event twice before, finishing in an hour and 24 minutes.
Swiatek, fresh from winning the Qatar Open in Doha the week before, won seven unanswered games to cruise through the first set before tipping a tighter second set in her favor, with five straight service breaks between the pair.
Svitolina had won the most recent meeting between the two, shocking Swiatek in the last eight on her way to the Wimbledon final last year, but Swiatek demonstrated her talent by advancing to the quarterfinals of yet another tournament.
"I felt like she played better in the second set," Swiatek said afterwards. "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.”
In the final eight, the Pole will face sixth seed Zheng Qinwen, who defeated Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-2.
Coco Gauff overcame a first-set deficit to defeat Karolina Pliskova 2-6 6-4 6-3.
The no. 3 seed won in just under two hours, breaking her Czech opponent's 11-match unbeaten streak and edging ahead 2-1 in their head-to-head.
Pliskova, who won her first title since 2020 in Cluj-Napoca, reached the semi-finals in Doha but was forced to withdraw from her match against Swiatek due to injury, and has risen in the rankings, from world No. 78 to 36.
Gauff, the reigning US Open champion, threw the form book out the window, powering her way to victory after dropping the first set, and the American will face unseeded Anna Kalinskaya in the next round, after the Russian defeated ninth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 6-4 7-5.
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina also had to deal with a dropped set as she went the distance against Magdalena Frech, eventually winning 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4.
The Kazakh, who lost to Swiatek in the Qatar final last week, was on court for two hours and 39 minutes in a marathon match that swung both ways. Rybakina had to dig deep in the latter stages of the first set, coming back from 5-3 down to force a tiebreak, which she won.
In the last eight, she will face Jasmine Paolini, the unseeded Italian, who defeated the out-of-form Maria Sakkari, the eighth seed in Dubai, in straight sets.
SportsLigue