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Iga Swiatek remains undefeated at the 2024 Qatar Open, having swept aside Victoria Azarenka's challenge in the quarterfinals on Thursday, February 15.
The duo exchanged breaks in the first two games and held their serves until Azarenka was broken at the crucial juncture, 5-4. Swiatek served out the set to take the lead in the contest. The Pole was at her ruthless best in the second set and broke Azarenka thrice to bagel the two-time Australian Open champion. Swiatek wrapped up the win, 6-4, 6-0, to book her spot in the semifinals for the third year in a row.
Tennis fans were delighted to see Swiatek display her best tennis against Azarenka, who had beaten a red-hot Jelena Ostapenko in the third round. Many praised her fearless style of play, and one fan noted that Azarenka is the third Australian Open champion Swiatek has bageled after Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka.
A fan also found hints of Novak Djokovic's game style in Swiatek's performance in the Qatar Open quarterfinals.
"IGA’S BAKERY? ALIVE AND THRIVING," a fan joked.
"I make that 3 AO winners who've been bagelled by Swiatek now, with the victims being Azarenka, Osaka, and Kerber," a fan commented.
"You know things are going well to Iga when she keeps repeating Jazda!" a fan wrote.
"Iga is relentless man.I don't see her leaving #1 for the next 5+ years. She is in a league of her own," opined another fan.
Here are more fan reactions to Iga Swiatek's triumph over Victoria Azarenka in Doha:
Iga Swiatek to face Karolina Pliskova in Qatar Open final
Iga Swiatek's next challenger in Doha will be Karolina Pliskova. The two will butt heads in the semifinals of the WTA 1000 tournament on February 16. Pliskova is in her best form compared to the past three years, having won nine matches on the trot on the WTA tour.
Pliskova won her first title since the 2020 Brisbane International at the 2024 Transylvania Open last week. She arrived in Doha just a day after her triumph in Cluj Napoca. However, the Czech does not look jetlagged as she has downed Anna Kalinskaya, Anastasia Potapova, Linda Noskova, and Naomi Osaka en route to her WTA 1000 semifinal.
However, Iga Swiatek might be too tall a task for the former World No. 1. Their head-to-head is 3-0 in favor of the Pole, who is yet to drop a set in Doha this week. Swiatek, the two-time defending Qatar Open champion, has steamrolled Sorana Cirstea, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Victoria Azarenka this week.
Swiatek is now up to 11 straight match-wins at the Qatar Open. She is still in contention to win a WTA Tour competition three years in a row and match Serena Williams' triumphs at the Miami Open in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
