World No. 1 Iga Swiatek saw off American teenage sensation Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2, in straight sets to advance to the finals of the Dubai Free Tennis Championships.
The top seed, who has yet to drop a set against Gauff, won the tie in 1 hour 28 minutes, improving her record against the 18-year-old to 6-0
Our first finalist in Dubai ✨
No.1 seed @iga_swiatek moves past Gauff 6-4, 6-2 to reach her first final at the @DDFTennis! pic.twitter.com/DHNV0aQway
— wta (@WTA) February 24, 2023
The 21-year-old was dominant from the start, as she took five of ten break points, won 31 receiving points, and won seven of her service games. Gauff, on the other hand, could only manage two break points and won 42 points.
The Pole advances to her 15th career final, and ninth at WTA 1000 level or above. She also improved her unbeaten record in WTA 1000 semifinals to 6-0, and extended her active winning streak to six following her successful title defense last week in Doha.
After the match, Swiatek applauded her opponent’s toughness and alluded her own sharpness to the ample recovery time she had before the encounter.
“Coco is a great player. I knew it was going to be tough,” Swiatek said. “Especially after last year; we played five times, so it is always tough because you never know if you’re going to see something new or not. I just wanted to focus on myself and keep going.
“Yesterday, I had the day off because Karolína [Pliskova] retired, unfortunately, so I used that time to recover better and to enjoy the way I am playing because I really want to take a lot of confidence from that.
“And I am pretty happy that I can continue doing that. Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice match as well,” she added.
The two-time French Open champion will face Czech’s Barbora Krejcikova, who defeated third seed Jessica Pegula 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 in her semifinal on Friday.
Finalist 2021 🤝 2023@BKrejcikova takes out the No.3 seed Pegula to reach the @DDFTennis final once again! pic.twitter.com/0CFuKwST2T
— wta (@WTA) February 24, 2023
The 2021 French Open champion, Krejcikova, would be playing for the Dubai Championship title for the second time in her career.
