Swiatek wins 21st successive set in Doha to reach semis, Osaka beaten by Pliskova

Iga Swiatek remains on track for a third straight Qatar Open title as she beat Victoria Azarenka in straight sets to reach the semi-finals.

World No. 1 Swiatek won the last nine games in a row to win 6-4 6-0 and secure her 11th straight victory at the tournament.

She now has a 12-1 winning record in Doha and even more impressively has won the last 21 sets she has played, not dropping a set since the first round in 2022.

“I’m really happy,” said Swiatek in her on-court interview.

“Victoria is a great champion and she has been top three in terms of the best players I watched when I was younger. I am pretty proud that I can compete on the same courts and play against Victoria and win. It’s pretty crazy.”

Swiatek is bidding to become the first player to win a WTA Tour event three consecutive times since Serena Williams won the Miami Open in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

She will face Karolina Pliskova in the last four of the WTA 1000 event after she beat fellow former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka 7-6(6) 7-6(5).

Swiatek broke in the opening game of the match against Azarenka but immediately relinquished the advantage as she was broken to love.

The crucial moment of the set came in the eighth game as Swiatek saved a break point at 30-40 and held serve.

She broke the next game and then served out the set.

Swiatek made a perfect start to the second as a superb backhand passing shot helped her break in the opening game.

Swiatek then streaked clear, winning the next five games in a row as her groundstrokes pulled Azarenka around the court to record another straight-sets victory at the tournament.

The last quarter-final between Osaka and Pliskova was tightly contested – but saw Pliskova fight back from a break down in both sets to win her ninth straight match in the last 10 days.

Osaka, playing her first quarter-final in almost two years, won the first two games but was quickly pegged back.

The four-time Grand Slam winner, who is back on the tour after giving birth last year, then lost the first set in a tie-breaker after leading 5-3.

Osaka also opened up a 2-0 lead in the second set but again Pliskova hit back and after passing up three match points she sealed victory in another tie-breaker.

Earlier in the day, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova secured her first hard-court WTA 1000 semi-final in 14 years with a 7-5 6-4 win over Danielle Collins.

Pavlyuchenkova will meet world No. 3 Elena Rybakina, who came from 4-1 down in the first set to beat Leylah Fernandez 6-4 6-2.

Rybakina has now reached the semis at three of four tournaments this season; the only one where she lost earlier was the Australian Open where she was beaten in the second round.