"Played like she had a dinner reservation to get to" - Tennis fans in awe of Iga Swiatek after Pole destroys Danielle Collins in Qatar open

Iga Swiatek is back where her 37-match unbeaten streak began last year - at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open. The World No. 1 dispatched World No. 42 Danielle Collins in just 53 minutes. The defending champion advances to the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament, where she faces World No. 9 Belinda Bencic.

The Polish player kicked off her 37-match unbeaten streak at Doha in 2022, which saw her end the year with eight titles and as World No.1. She suffered a shock fourth-round exit at the 2023 Australian Open at the hands of 22nd seed Elena Rybakina in straight sets.

However, playing her first competitive match since her defeat at the first Grand Slam of the year, Swiatek showed no sign of being rusty. She secured an emphatic victory over American Danielle Collins 6-0, 6-1 in less than an hour.

The dominant Pole dropped just four points while taking the first set 6-0 in just 21 minutes. Though Collins managed to win her only game in the match at 1-3 in the second set, the Polish star showed no mercy as she wrapped up the match in 53 minutes.

The WTA posted the match result stating that the winner moved ahead "swiftly.”

“Title defense mode officially (on) World No.1 @iga_swiatek 𝓈𝓌𝒾𝒻𝓉𝓁𝓎 moves past Collins, 6-0, 6-1! #QatarTennis”

Fans were in awe at her level and performance and wasted no time in praising the 21-year-old. One of them joked that she played as if she had dinner reservations to get to, while calling her a ‘queen'.

“played like she had a dinner reservation to get to. Queen”

Here are some other fan reactions to Iga Swiatek’s emphatic victory.

“I needed a reset and focused on getting my expectations lower,” said Iga Swiatek ahead of Doha title defense

World No.1 Iga Swiatek fell short of her own and fans’ expectations at the 2023 Australian Open. The top seed crashed out in the fourth-round with a straight sets defeat to eventual finalist, 22nd seed, Elena Rybakina.

After enjoying the most emphatic season on the WTA in recent years in 2022, the 21-year-old was the top pick to win the first Grand Slam of the year in the women’s draw. However, she succumbed to the pressure and has been out of action since the defeat.

“Yeah, last season was so strange, actually, that it can actually mess up with your head a little bit," Swiatek said to Tennis Up to Date.

"Exactly what I needed was to reset it a little bit, and I knew what I did wrong at the Australian Open and over my whole stay in Australia. I really wanted to focus on getting my expectations lower and not expect from myself that I'm gonna, you know, play perfectly all the time,” she concluded.

While speaking on her Doha campaign, she added:

"I really wanted to get both my feet on the ground, just focus on hard work and what I have to do on court.”

After receiving a first-round bye, being the top seed, she has proceeded to hit the ground running, crushing Danielle Collins in the round of 16. She will next take on World No. 9 Belinda Bencic.

It remains to be seen whether Iga Swiatek can defend her title and repeat her performance of 2022 this year. However, the top seed looks in stellar form to do so.