Staff Reporter.
World No 1 Iga Swiatek swept past Liudmila Samsonova for the loss of just one game to make the Dubai WTA quarterfinals 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 No 1 Andy Murray in appreciation.
Swiatek will take on former Dubai finalist Karolina Pliskova in Thursday’s quarterfinals 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 No 2 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 quarterfinal.
Fifth-seeded Gauff advanced when Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina withdrew from their last 16 clash due to a lower back injury.
Keys booked her quarterfinal spot with a 6-2, 6-1 win over former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka in just 57 minutes.