Merciless Swiatek marches into Dubai final

World number one Iga Swiatek doled out another lesson in outstanding tennis, winning 73 percent of points on her first serve, as she reached the final of the WTA Dubai Open on Friday with a 6-4 6-2 win over fifth seed American Coco Gauff in 1 hour and 28 minutes.

Slidetek 🔥🔥@iga_swiatek | #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/OOJvSQjZ28

— wta (@WTA) February 24, 2023

The Polish star looked in ominously good form as she took her place in the Saturday’s final without dropping a set this week. It was also her sixth straight-sets defeat against Gauff.

The 21-year-old, who advanced to her 15th career final, comfortably won the first set after breaking twice her opponent’s serve and eased through the second in 37 minutes.

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Swiatek extended her winning streak to six following her successful title defense last week in Doha.

This was Gauff’s second career WTA 1000 semi-final, following the American’s progress to the final four in Rome in 2021 – where she also lost to Swiatek in straight sets.

“Coco is a great player and I knew it was going to be tough especially after last year, we played like five times – it’s always tough, you don’t know if you’re going to see something new or so,” Swiatek said afterwards.

“I just wanted to focus on myself and keep going and be consistent with my tactics.”

American Jessica Pegula face Czech Republic’s Barbara Krejcikova in the second semi-final later on Friday.