Swiatek steps it up in quest for four in a row

Iga Swiatek moved to within a pair of wins in her quest for four titles in a row at the WTA Qatar tournament as the five-time grand Slam champion defeated Elena Rybakina 6-2, 7-5 on Thursday.

Former world No. 1 Swiatek has been dominant in the Gulf and now needs victories in the semis and final to collect her fourth trophy at the event.

The Pole earned her 15th straight win at the tournament, fighting from 4-2 down in the second set, in a comeback to complete her quarter-final success.

The win in 96 minutes matched a defeat of 2022 Wimbledon winner Rybakina at last month’s United Cup and leaves the pair locked at 4-all in their series.

World No. 5 Jessica Pegula, losing finalist to Swiatek here two years ago, went down in an upset loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 with the winner booking her third career semi-final at the elite 1000-level series.

Alexandrova is fresh from a title in Linz and has now won her last eight matches.

She knocked out world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka here in the second round and had to fight from a set down to overcome sixth seed Pegula.

Main photo:- Iga Swiatek moves into Qatar semi-finals by WTATennis.com