Iga Swiatek storms into Dubai Tennis Championships last-16, Caroline Garcia and Maria Sakkari beaten
Iga Swiatek stormed into the last-16 of the Dubai Tennis Championships with a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 victory over Leylah Fernandez.
Swiatek picked up where she left off when she won the Qatar Open last week — her first title of 2023 — and is favourite to win the first WTA 1000 event of the season.
Ad She will play Liudmila Samsonova, who had a walkover against Zheng Qinwen, in the next round on Wednesday. WTA DohaSwiatek cruises past Pegula to clinch second straight WTA Doha title in style18/02/2023 AT 19:53 “It wasn’t that easy for sure,” said Swiatek. “It was much tougher than the scoreline says.
In the second set she had break points and I needed to go another level up. “For sure, I didn’t have much time to get used to the conditions, I’m just happy I could play solid tennis. “The courts are a bit faster than Doha, but similar to the Australian Open, so it’s fine.” Swiatek, who has never been beyond the last-16 in Dubai, was put under pressure by Fernandez straight away but importantly held her opening service game, then showed her class by breaking her opponent at the first time of asking.