Dubai, United Arab Emirates) – three days later win the WTA 500 in Doha with only five games lost all week, Iga Swiatek gave another example of his dominance on the circuit. The world number 1 made her debut at the first WTA 1000 of the season in Dubai, beating Canadian Leylah Fernandez by a 6-1 double with 1h12 from the start. it was yours second win over Fernandez in the circuit.

Swiatek faces 13th-seeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova in the Round of 16, who didn’t even need to enter the court, taking advantage of Chinese Qinwen Zheng’s withdrawal due to abdominal pain. The world ranking leader won a tough match against Samsonova in the semi-final in Stuttgart last year 6/7 (4-7), 6/4, 7/5. The reunion will take place this Wednesday, around 8 am (Brasilia time).

Catch me if you can 😼@iga_swiatek earns ANOTHER straight sets victory, losing only 2 games!#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/0OTLNpoLWh

– wta (@WTA) February 21, 2023

In the season, Swiatek has ten wins and only two losses, against Jessica Pegula in the United Cup and Elena Rybakina still in the round of 16 of the Australian Open. Her lead in the standings over second-placed Aryna Sabalenka is 4,800 points.

“It was a tougher match than the scoreboard shows. I needed time to adapt to the conditions. The courts are faster than in Doha, closer to what we played in Australia. And in the second set she had a few break points. But I managed to play solid tennis,” Swiatek said after the match.

An ace seals the opening set 💥@iga_swiatek | #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/Of2EUvTGbL

– wta (@WTA) February 21, 2023

In the quick game in Dubai, Swiatek managed variations of play from Fernandez very well, who relied on the drop shots to bring the Pole to the net and attacked the parallels. The world No. 1 even faced long plays on serve, but was far superior in the long exchanges, with defensive consistency and knowing the right moment to define the points. Swiatek took advantage of six of the seven break points she had, more than double winning points, 17-8, and committed 14 errors against 23. The Pole suffered a break while already winning the first set by 4/0. And at the start of the second half, he escaped two more break points, including one with an ace.

Knocked out in the second round in Dubai, Fernandez was a US Open runner-up in 2021 and also had a great campaign until the Roland Garros quarter-finals last year. The 20-year-old was seeded 13th but suffered a right foot injury which kept her out of Wimbledon and hampered her second-half performance. In recent weeks, the Canadian has had to compete in WTA 500 qualifiers in Abu Dhabi and Doha. She was coming off a victory in her debut against the Austrian Julia Grabher.

Discover the program for this Wednesday in Dubai.

Center Court – 5h
[Q]Ana Bogdan (ROM) vs. [3]Jessica Pegula (USA)
Madison Keys (USA) vs. [15]Victoria Azarenka
[1]Iga Swiatek (POL) against. [14]Lyudmila Samsonova
Not before 12 p.m.
[13]Jelena Ostapenko (LET) against. [2]Aryna Sabalenka
Barbora Krejcikova (TCH) against. [12]Petra Kvitova (TCH)

Block 1 – 5h
Anhelina Kalinina (UCR) against. Karolina Pliskova (TCH)
Not before 7 a.m.
[8]Belinda Bencic (SUI) against. [RP]Karolina Muchova (TCH)
[5]Coco Gauff (USA) vs. [9]Elena Rybakina (CAZ)