Iga Swiatek came from a set down to defeat Daria Kasatkina yesterday and keep her bid for a fourth Qatar Open title alive, as Elena Rybakina also reached the quarterfinals.
The world No 2 recovered to beat Russian-born Australian Kasatkina 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 and set up a tie with Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
Swiatek, who won the WTA 1000 tournament in 2022, 2023 and 2024, had breezed through her last six meetings with Kasatkina without dropping a set but blew a 5-3 lead to lose the opener.
The six-time Grand Slam champion quickly regrouped, though, racing through the next two sets with six breaks of serve.
“It wasn’t an easy match,” said Swiatek. “She used the slower surface here and she was going for it more compared to (our) last matches.
“But you never know if it was her just doing that from the beginning, or me giving her more chances.
“But for sure I felt like I could do sometimes more in the first set.”
Swiatek remains on course for a possible rematch with Australian Open champion Rybakina in the final after the Kazakh’s win in their quarterfinal clash at Melbourne Park last month.
Rybakina also had t battle back to defeat China’s Zheng Qinwen 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 and end the former world No 4’s first tournament of the year.