'She's different': Untroubled Swiatek into Dubai quarter-finals
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'She's different': Untroubled Swiatek into Dubai quarter-finals
Dubai (AFP) – World number one Iga Swiatek swept past Liudmila Samsonova for the loss of just one game to make the Dubai WTA quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old Pole triumphed 6-1, 6-0 to follow her opening 6-1, 6-1 win over Leylah Fernandez.
Swiatek has dropped only eight games in her last six matches, a stretch which saw her lift the Doha title last weekend.
"She is different," tweeted men's former world number one Andy Murray in appreciation.
Swiatek will take on former Dubai finalist Karolina Pliskova in Thursday's quarter-finals having beaten the Czech in their only previous match-up, a 6-0, 6-0 rout in the 2021 Italian Open final.
Pliskova booked her last-eight spot with a 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2 victory over Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina.
Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka made it 13 wins in 13 matches in 2023 by dethroning defending champion Jelena Ostapenko 2-6, 6-1, 6-1.
"In the first set, she played unbelievable tennis and I couldn't do anything," world number two Sabalenka said.
"I was looking at my team asking like, 'What can I do?' but somehow, I turned around this game, and started playing really incredible tennis."
Coco Gauff and Madison Keys will meet in an all-American quarter-final.
Fifth-seeded Gauff advanced when Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina withdrew from their last 16 clash due to a lower back injury.
Keys booked her quarter-final spot with a 6-2, 6-1 win over former world number one Victoria Azarenka in just 57 minutes.
