Iga Swiatek battles past Elena Rybakina to complete Qatar Open title hat-trick

Iga Swiatek defeated Elena Rybakina in straight sets on Saturday to clinch a third consecutive title at the Qatar Open.

The world number one did not even have to take to the court on Friday, earning a semi-final walkover when opponent Karolina Pliskova withdrew because of a back problem.

That extra day's rest worked in her favour as Swiatek overcame a gritty challenge by world number four Rybakina to win 7-6(8), 6-2.

The 22-year-old Pole, who raced to her 12th consecutive match win in Doha after beating Rybakina, became the first player to capture a singles title at an event in three successive years since Serena Williams triumphed in Miami from 2013-15.

The win also improved her head-to-head record over the Kazakh to 3-2, having lost on all three occasions last year.

Swiatek endured a slow start as she went 4-1 down in a roller-coaster opening set before slowly finding her groove to level things up at 4-4.

After the set went into a tiebreaker, the momentum swung back and forth before Swiatek wrapped up the 90-minute-long set with a well-executed backhand winner.

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