Iga Swiatek of Warsaw, Poland has won the 2024 Qatar TotalEnergies Open. On Saturday, she defeated Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the final 7-6, 6-2.
Swiatek was the number one seed, and Rybakina was the number three seed. In the first set tiebreak, Swiatek won 10-8.
A major turning point in the match came in the first set. That is when Rybakina cut her leg when she made contact with her racquet. At that point Rybakina led Swiatek 4-1, after a fantastic start. After the medical timeout, Swiatek won 11 of 15 games, not including the tiebreak.
Swiatek broke Rybakina five times in the match in 10 opportunities. Throughout the match she played exceptional defense, a major trait to her game, and a significant reason why she is the number one player in the world.
Swiatek has won three consecutive Qatar Opens. In 2022, she defeated Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the final, 6-2, 6-0. Then in 2023, Swiatek beat Jessica Pegula of the United States in the final, 6-3, 6-0. During the 2023 Qatar Open, Swiatek had another dominant performance, as she clobbered 2022 Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins of the United States 6-0, 6-1 in the second round. What she accomplished last year in winning the tournament was quite simply miraculous. Swiatek only lost six games in four victories.
It should be noted that when Swiatek won the 2023 Qatar Open, it was only a 500 point event on the WTA Tour. When Swiatek won the 2022 Qatar Open it was a 1000 point event.
This was Swiatek’s first WTA title of 2024. It was her first title since she won the WTA Finals in Mexico.
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