By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, February 16, 2024
Elena Rybakina topped Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-4 to roll into her third final of the season vs. two-time Doha champion Iga Swiatek.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
The Doha final shapes up as a streak show.
A red-hot Elena Rybakina topped Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-4 to roll into her third final of this young season at the Qatar Open.
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Empowered by her run to the Abu Dhabi title last week, Rybakina raised her record to a WTA-best 15-2 on the season.
The 2022 Wimbledon winner rides an eight-match winning streak into tomorrow’s final against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who has won 11 consecutive matches in Doha.
Two-time defending champion Swiatek took a walkover into the final when scheduled opponent Karolina Pliskova withdrew due to a back injury.
Three-time Roland Garros champion Swiatek is bidding to become the first woman to win a WTA tournament three years in a row since Serena Williams captured three consecutive Miami Open championships from 2013-2015.
The third-seeded Rybakina has won three of four meetings vs. Swiatek and has been a major nemesis to the top seed in big matches.
The Doha final is a rematch of the 2023 Indian Wells semifinals, which Rybakina swept 6-2, 6-2 nearly six weeks after she knocked Swiatek out of the 2023 Australian Open.
Their last meeting was even at a set apiece, 2-2 in the third set when Swiatek retired from the Rome quarterfinals last May.
Swiatek is playing for her first win over the powerful Kazakh since the 2021 Ostrava.
The third-seeded Rybakina rolled to a 6-2, 5-1 lead against Pavlyuchenkova today then lost her way a bit.
World No. 32 Pavlyuchenkova broke at 30 when Rybakina first served for the match at 6-2, 5-2. The Russian held at 15 to reduce the lead to a single break at 4-5.
Serving for the match again, Rybakina fended off a break point with some deep drives.
The former French Open finalist Pavlyuchenkova pumped a backhand winner down the line to draw even at deuce and again apply pressure.
Calmly staring down stress, Rybakina rolled a forehand winner down the line for a second match point.
This time, Rybakina torched her third ace to close in 89 minutes.
Four of Rybakina’s seven career titles have come on hard courts, including Brisbane, where she defeated Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final, and Abu Dhabi where she swept Daria Kasatkina in last weekend’s final.
Swiatek is playing for her 18th career championship.