Iga Swiatek soundly defeats Maria Sakkari in Qatar Open

Iga Swiatek defeated Maria Sakkari in straight sets in the Qatar Open.

Iga Swiatek defeated Maria Sakkari in the Round of 32 at the Qatar Open. / IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Iga Swiatek is back in one of her favorite tournaments, and she looked strong in her first match. On Monday, Swiatek embarked on her quest for a fourth consecutive title at the WTA 1000 Doha (called the Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2025 or Doha Open).

In her first match, Swiatek faced Maria Sakkari in the Round of 32. It was a dominating, straight-sets win for Swiatek: 6-3, 6-2.

opening set to the defending champ 👊@iga_swiatek claims the first set 6-3 over Sakkari!#QatarTotalEnergiesOpen pic.twitter.com/2bJn44ipJb

— wta (@WTA) February 10, 2025

The first set was hard fought, with Sakkari winning three straight games to take a 3-2 lead. However, Swiatek kicked into gear, routing the rest of the first set.

Picking up where she left off, the Polish superstar surged to a 4-0 lead at the start of the second set. Sakkari was able to pick up two games in the second set, but was unable to complete the comeback.

The flash or @iga_swiatek ⚡️#QatarTotalEnergiesOpen pic.twitter.com/hD0lgwBUVz

— wta (@WTA) February 10, 2025

Swiatek won her 13th straight match in Doha, improving her record to 14-1 at the tournament. She has now won 25 consecutive sets, having not dropped a set at the Qatar Open since her second-round win over Viktorija Golubic in 2022.

After the match, Swiatek was asked if she felt more pressure given her current title drought. The 23-year-old responded, "No. I know how tennis works. It doesn't always depend on you if you win titles or not. You just have to put 100 percent effort and commitment, and you'll' get your chances if you play well and if you work hard."

opening set to the defending champ 👊@iga_swiatek claims the first set 6-3 over Sakkari!#QatarTotalEnergiesOpen pic.twitter.com/2bJn44ipJb

— wta (@WTA) February 10, 2025

Swiatek added, "For sure, it will be nice to win some tournaments, but it's never helpful to think about it before. You have to focus on every match specifically and do it step by step, so I'm going to try to do that again."

Swiatek is currently the World No. 2 and will face either Kazakh Yulia Putintseva or Czech youngster Linda Noskova in the Round of 16 on Thursday, February 13. Tennis fans can follow Sports Illustrated's Serve on SI for all the most important news from the sport.

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