Iga Swiatek moved to within a pair of wins in her quest for four titles in a row at the WTA Qatar tournament as the five-time grand Slam champion defeated Elena Rybakina 6-2, 7-5 on Thursday.

Former world No. 1 Swiatek has been dominant in the Gulf and now needs victories in the semis and final to collect her fourth trophy at the event.

The Pole earned her 15th straight win at the tournament, fighting from 4-2 down in the second set, in a comeback to complete her quarter-final success.

The win in 96 minutes matched a defeat of 2022 Wimbledon winner Rybakina at last month’s United Cup and leaves the pair locked at 4-all in their series.

World No. 5 Jessica Pegula, losing finalist to Swiatek here two years ago, went down in an upset loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 with the winner booking her third career semi-final at the elite 1000-level series.

Alexandrova is fresh from a title in Linz and has now won her last eight matches.

She knocked out world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka here in the second round and had to fight from a set down to overcome sixth seed Pegula.

Main photo:- Iga Swiatek on her way to Qatar semi finals – by WTATennis.com

Chronic complainers Iga Swiatek and the ATP’s Carlos Alcaraz have drawn fire from a fellow pro, with Anastasia Potapova calling the pair of former No. 1’s “soft and spoiled.”

World No. 32 Potapova unleashed at last week’s WTA event in Austria after the consistent laments from the top players on crowded calendars on their respective Tours.

Spain’s Alcaraz has done himself no favours by cramming in as many big-money off-season exhibitions as possible while voicing his concerns about the crowded ATP schedule; he also said that too many player injuries are occurring as a result of the calendar..

Swiatek has been more discreet but still has her gripes. She blew off steam last summer before the US Open, saying: 

“Our calendar is crazy, probably the toughest one in sports.. most sports have four months off, sometimes even six.

“It’s getting more crazy every year, which is scary.”

Potapova told Russian media in a YouTube interview: “Some players have become too soft and spoiled.

“There are things that make the tour more difficult, but on the other hand, I also had moments when I wasn’t happy with my life when I felt like I couldn’t stay on tour anymore.

“Sometimes you forget where you came from. We really live in our own world and it really is tough at times, but any professional sport is tough.

“It’s a lot of pressure. Both mental and physical, it’s tough, but that’s not the worst life a person can have.”

Main photo:- Anastasia Potapova – WTAtennis.com

Jelena Ostapenko continued her runaway start in 2024 as the Latvian claimed her second title in a month with victory on Sunday at the WTA event in Linz.

The Austrian triumph for the 2017 Roland Garros champion came against Ekaterina Alexandrova, 6-2, 6-3 in 71 minutes.

Ostapenko lifted the Adelaide trophy on the day before the start of the Australian Open and has won two titles in a season for the first time since 2017 when she followed up her Paris Grand Slam honours with the Seoul title.

Alexandrova finished runner-up here six years ago; Ostapenko now owns eight career trophies after winning a re-run of January’s Adelaide semi-finals..

The winner now stands an impressive 13-2 on the season, she last played Linz in Upper Austria near the Czech border in 2019, finishing runner-up to precocious teen Coco Gauff, who won the title as a lucky loser from qualifying who entered the field thanks to Maria Sharapova’s pullout.

Main photo:- Jelena Ostapenkpo celebrates by Alexander Scheurer