(Dubai) Poland’s Iga Swiatek reached the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships with a straight-set 6-4, 6-2 victory on Friday over American Cori Gauff.
World number one Swiatek needed 88 minutes to defeat the 18-year-old American, ranked sixth in the world.
For Swiatek, it was his sixth win in as many outings against Gauff, all of which came in two sets.
“Another game to play. I will put my heart into it,” Swiatek wrote on Twitter.
In the final, she will face the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, ranked 30ewho defeated American Jessica Pegula, third in the world, 6-1, 5-7, 6-0.
Finalist against Swiatek last week in Doha, Pegula had forced the presentation of a decisive set by breaking the service of Krejcikova during the 12e game of the second set without the Czech scoring a single point.
The latter reacted by winning 12 of the first 13 points of the third set, en route to two breaks of service and a 3-0 lead. Pegula never recovered.
This will be a fourth confrontation between Swiatek and Krejcikova. The Pole won the first two, in March 2021 and May 2021, and Krejcikova defeated Swiatek in October 2022. The last two duels took three sets.
Five breaks
Earlier in the day, Swiatek hadn’t needed to be dominant on his serve to overcome his talented opponent.
Besides, she managed only one ace, committed three double faults and was unable to save the two break points she faced, one in each set.
However, she managed to give herself 10 break points and converted five, including three in the second set.
In the first set, Swiatek was broken in games three and seven before losing serve in game eight when the Pole served for the set with a 5-2 lead.
Swiatek conceded the very first run in set two but won the next 13 to build a comfortable 4-0 lead.
Gauff salvaged one of those breaks in the sixth game to cut Swiatek’s lead to 4-2. The latter immediately replied with her fifth break of service of the match.
