Iga Swiatek claimed her first title of the season by defeating world No. Elena Rybakina 7-6 (10-8) 6-2 in the final of the Qatar Open on Saturday.
Swiatek had a longer break to get ready for the match because she advanced to the final with a walkover against Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals.
On the other hand, Rybakina beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenko in straight sets in her semi-final match on Saturday.
At the Qatar Open, it was the Kazakh player’s third final of the season, having previously won the Brisbane International and the Abu Dhabi Open.
For Swiatek, this was also an opportunity to win a trophy for the new season. In the first set, Rybakina seemed to be in control as she broke twice to take a 4-1 lead.
However, she suffered a cut to her leg and had to take a medical timeout. This break allowed Swiatek to seize the opportunity and level the score at 4-4.
The duo then broke each other again, leading to a tie-breaker to determine the winner. They battled it out until Swiatek won the first set 10-8 with a backhand winner.
Swiatek continued her strong performance by breaking her opponent in the third set, taking a 3-1 lead, and then breaking again to go up 5-2, just one game away from winning her first trophy of the season.
The world No. 1 then held serve, hitting her second ace of the match, to win the second set 6-2 and secure her third consecutive Doha title.
