Swiatek downs Rybakina to win third straight Doha title

World No 1 Iga Swiatek recovered from a slow start to beat Elena Rybakina 7-6 (8), 6-2 on Saturday and claim the Qatar Open title for the third time in a row.

Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina led 4-1 in the first set, served for it at 6-5 and had a set point in the tiebreak but Swiatek snatched the opener and pulled away confidently in the second to clinch her 18th career title, and seventh WTA 1000 crown.

“I’m happy that I kept working and just didn’t really think about too many stuff during this week and just focused on the right things, because I think it was the key,” Swiatek said, quoted by the WTA Tour website. “Coming here and being kind of the double-defending champion wasn’t easy. So I’m happy that I have this experience already, and hopefully I’m going to use it.”

Rybakina, a winner in Abu Dhabi last weekend, began brightly and surged to a 4-1 lead as Swiatek struggled to cope with her power, a feature of the Kazakh’s game, which had helped her win three of their four previous meetings.

But in the sixth game, a freak moment, when Rybakina followed through and drew blood from her shin after serving, stopped her momentum and Swiatek began to work her way into the match.

Swiatek snatches tiebreak to win epic first set

The Pole got the break back and the players were level at 5-5 only for Rybakina to break again. But the 2022 Wimbledon champion couldn’t close it out and though she saved three set points in the tiebreak, she couldn’t stop Swiatek from moving ahead as she slipped a backhand up the line for a winner.

The first set lasted an hour and a half but Rybakina looked to have recovered quickly when she held serve to start the second and held a break point in the second game. But Swiatek saved it with a good serve and fine backhand and after she broke for 2-1, the result was never in doubt.

Swiatek duly wrapped up the match at the first time of asking, serving out for victory to win the title for the third year and reduce her head to head deficit.

Pole wins title without losing a set

The Pole won the title without losing a set, having defeated Romanian Sorana Cirstea (6-1, 6-1), Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No 14 seed (6-1, 6-4), Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (6-4, 6-0) and Karolina Pliskova (W/O) in the previous rounds.

Earlier in the tournament, Rybakina, ranked No 4, defeated Chinese Lin Zhu (6-2, 6-1), American Emma Navarro, the No 16 seed (6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-4), Canadian Leylah Fernandez (6-4, 6-2) and Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (6-2, 6-4).

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