Slick Swiatek marches into Doha semis as Ostapenko beats Jabuer in straight sets

Three-time champion Iga Swiatek of Poland lived up to her top billing as the second seed crushed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in straight sets to reach the semi-finals of the $3.2mn Qatar TotalEnergies Open.
Swiatek, aiming for her fourth successive trophy in Qatar, on Thursday won 6-2, 7-5 in 1 hour and 35 minutes at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex.
“I’m super happy, super proud of myself. Playing against Elena is never easy,” Swiatek said afterwards. “At the beginning of the second set, she increased her level, so I needed to do that too to come back.
“I’m really happy, especially in the last game, to break Elena, because with her serve, it’s tough.”
Swiatek has reached 100 WTA 1000 wins in just 121 matches. She is the second-fastest player to reach this milestone, trailing only the legendary Serena Williams, who achieved it in 115 matches.
This puts Swiatek in truly elite company and underscores her remarkable talent
In another quarter-final on Thursday, there was heartbreak for fans of Arab superstar Ons Jabeur who lost to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets. Ostapenko won 6-2, 6-2 in just 70 minutes on Centre Court.
Giant-killer Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova rallied from a set down to beat last year’s US Open finalist Jessica Pegula of the US.
Alexandrova, who beat top seed Aryna Sabalenka on Tuesday, on Thursday won 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in 1 hour and 42 minutes in what was the first quarter-final of the day.
For Swiatek, her love affair with Doha has continued in style. Thursday’s win was her 15th straight in the Qatari capital.
After beating Rybakina at last month’s United Cup, Swiatek has now levelled her all-time head-to-head against the Kazakh to 4-4.
Swiatek dominated the opening set against Rybakina, winning 6-2 in just 36 minutes and never facing a breakpoint. However, Rybakina quickly shifted the momentum in the second set, converting her second breakpoint opportunity in the very first game.
The ensuing hour-long set was a tense battle. Rybakina, though pressured, initially held strong. She saved two break points in her first service game, then three more to establish a 3-1 lead.
Swiatek, however, refused to yield. Facing a sixth break point in the set at 4-3, 15-40, Swiatek delivered a clutch performance, hitting a forehand winner past a charging Rybakina to level the score. This pivotal moment brought the set back on serve after a period of intense pressure on the Swiatek serve.
In the deciding game, Swiatek hammered a cross-court backhand return winner off of a short second serve to deny Rybakina a tiebreak, and the contest ended two points later when the No. 5 seed served up just her second double fault in the match overall.
Swiatek said her clash against Ostapenko today would be an interesting one.
“Because of the head-to-head (Swiatek trails 0-4), I can kind of play without expectations, and just focus on work, and maybe trying to change something so I can finally win against her. She’s (Rybakina) a tough opponent and she also played amazing, you know, always when she played against me. So, yeah, I’ll just have another chance, and I’ll try to use it. Obviously every tournament has different conditions and different opportunities, so we’ll see what she’s going to bring.”
Alexandrova said beating Pegula today would be a ‘tough’ challenge. “For sure it was a difficult match, even the score doesn’t seem like it was difficult,” Alexandrova said after the match.
“The first set I think was pretty close, like there was some breaks, and I think overall just the game was pretty close,” she added.
“I think in the second set I was able to find the right rhythm and the right things that I need to do on the court against her, and I just tried to keep it during the rest of the match, especially the serve, it wasn’t working in the first set, but I was able to find the rhythm, and it just like it was pretty good after all,” the Russian added.
When asked if she is playing her ‘best tennis’, Alexandrova said: “I always hope I can do better, because it’s always things that you can improve and be better at (laughs). Probably, maybe right now, I just feel really comfortable on the court, I know what I need to do.”
In the last quarter-final of the day, Amanda Anisimova of the US beat Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in a three-set marathon.
Anisimova won 4-6, 7-5, 6-4

Quarter-final Results
Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) bt Jessica Pegula (USA x6) 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
Amanda Anisimova (USA) bt Marta Kostyuk (UKR) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) bt Ons Jabeur (TUN) 6-2, 6-2
Iga Swiatek (POL x2) bt Elena Rybakina (KAZ x5) 6-2, 7-5