World record holder Iga Swiatek secured her spot in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with her 6-4 6-2 win over Coco Gauff in 1 hour and 28 minutes.
Swiatek has won her six head-to-head matches against Gauff in straight sets. The three-time Grand Slam champion has reached the 15 WTA Tour Final of her career and her ninth at WTA 1000 level or above. She has extended her unbeaten record in WTA 1000 semifinals to 6-0.
Swiatek earned the first break in the third game of the opening set to take a 2-1 lead. Gauff made 16 of her 20 unforced errors from the forehand side in the opening set.
Swiatek was not able to serve out the first set on her first attempt after a series of backhand mistakes, but she closed it out on her fifth set point after a forehand error from Gauff.
Swiatek went up a 4-1 lead with a double break in the second set. Gauff pulled one of the two breaks back after Swiatek made two of double faults. Swiatek earned her third break with a pass to open up a 5-2 lead and served out the match in the next game.
“I am pretty happy that tennis is working out, because Coco is a great player and I knew it was going to be tough. Especially after last year when we played five times, because you never know if you are going to see something new or not”, said Swiatek.
Swiatek set up a final against 2021 Barbora Krejcikova, who beat number 2 seed Jessica Pegula 6-1 5-7 6-0 in the semifinal.
Krejcikova broke Swiatek’s 10-match winning streak in finals with a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in Ostrava last October. The Czech player had rallied from a set and a break down to beat 2023 Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka 0-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1.
Krejcikova avenged her recent defeat against Pegula, who beat her Czech rival 7-5 6-3 in the fourth round at the Australian Open.
Krejcikova reeled off five consecutive games from 1-1 to clinch the first set 6-1. Pegula was not able to convert her break points in the second and fourth games of the second set. The US player broke serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead,. Krejcikova broke straight back on the second deuce for 4-5. Krejcikova sealed the second set 7-5 with a break to love in the 12th game.
“I felt good, even though the second set did not go my way. I was still thinking that I had a big chance, and was going for my shots and just try to play my best tennis”, said Krejcikova.
