By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Iga Swiatek is one of the best frontrunners in women’s tennis, but on Wednesday in Doha, the defending champion was forced to wear a different hat. Pushed from the onset by 20-year-old Czech Linda Noskova, Swiatek surrendered the opening set in a tiebreak.



Facing the player who unceremoniously knocked her out of the 2024 Australian Open, Swiatek was forced to play from behind against the hard-hitting World No.33.

She handled the challenge well, rallying to edge Noskova, 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-4 to notch her 14th consecutive win in Doha and set a rematch of last year’s final with Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals.

With the win Swiatek improves to 4-1 lifetime against the Czech.

“Every match against Linda is always super tough, and this was another one, so for sure I’m proud that I was solid to the end,” Swaitek said. “It wasn’t easy, especially with her serve, which was kind of perfect, so I just wanted to use my chances.”

Noskova was indeed perfect in an opening set that saw her save the only break point she faced, as she dropped just 10 points on serve. After she rumbled through the first-set tiebreaker with ease, it looked as though Swiatek’s Doha domination might come to an end.

Not so fast.

The Pole jumped ahead by a break behind a barrage of backhand winners in the fifth game of the second set, as she commenced reining Noskova’s game in.

It was a difficult task.

Swiatek couldn’t consolidate – Noskova broke back for 3-all in the second set on a Swiatek double-fault – but momentum rested on the Pole’s side of the court as she broke again for 4-3, lashing a backhand inside-out return winner for her second consecutive break.

Having only earned a single unconverted break point in the first set against Noskova, the change in tone was apparent. With grit and determination, Swiatek was ever so slowly turning the screws.

Swiatek would lock up the set to force a decider moments later, in a service hold that included an absolutely insane backhand from both knees, when Noskova rifled a return right to her feet.

My gosh she hit it from BOTH knees pic.twitter.com/n7L2DYMkvw

— Chris Oddo (@TheFanChild) February 12, 2025

An early break for 1-0 in the third, sealed when Noskova double-faulted, cleared the runway for a smooth landing for the five-time major champion.

But she would encounter more turbulence before locking up the win. Noskova broke back for 2-all, but Swiatek redoubled her efforts and notched 10 of the final 13 points, breaking for 5-4 and serving out the match to 30, to keep her four-peat hopes alive in Doha.

Swiatek has now won 15 of her last 19 three-set matches, dating back to the start of the 2024 season.



If she can win three more rounds in Qatar, Swiatek would become the first WTA player to win the same title in four successive seasons since Caroline Wozniacki in New Haven (2008-2011).

It all begins with an eighth career meeting with Rybakina, which also features as a rematch of last year’s title match. Swiatek defeated Rybakina 7-6(8), 6-2 in last year’s final, but trails in the pair’s head-to-head 4-3 overall. This year, Swiatek started the season by defeating Rybakina in their most recent meeting at United Cup, 7-6(5), 6-4.

“Elena is a really experienced player and one that you need to be 100 percent against if you want to win,” Swiatek said. “I’ll use my experience and also the last match that we played, it’s good to watch some. But for sure it’s not going to be easy and it’s going to be a tough battle.”

Rybakina, Ostapenko, Pegula Power Through

Rybakina’s 7-6(1), 6-2 win over Rebecca Sramkova sends the World No.7 to another showdown with Swiatek. The Kazakhstani won 27 of 30 first-serve points, and 23 of 33 second-serve return points to keep the 46th-ranked Slovakian at bay.

Former finalist Jelena Ostapenko continued to surge with a 6-2, 6-2 win over fourth-seeded Jasmine Paolini – the Latvian will face either Ons Jabeur or Sofia Kenin next.

Jessica Pegula, the No.6 seed, set a quarterfinal with Ekaterina Alexandrova, the woman who upended top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in the second round. The American took out Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 7-5 to reach her 15th career WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, fresh off her upset of third-seeded Coco Gauff, defeated Poland’s Magda Linette 6-4, 6-2.