Iga Swiatek downs Liudmila Samsonova to advance into quarter-finals

DUBAI: World No.1 Iga Swiatek advanced into the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday, overpowering No.14 seed Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 6-0 in their Round of 16 showdown.

Swiatek won her last five matches, including a title defence last week in Doha. However, this will be Swiatek's first appearance in the Dubai quarterfinals; she lost in the second round to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko last year.

Swiatek had a much easier time this time, dropping only one game en route to the 76-minute victory. Swiatek won the match with 18 winners to only six unforced errors and never faced a break point. Swiatek improves to 35-0 in WTA 1000 events after taking the first set.

Swiatek hung with Samsonova in a number of long games, but the top seed won almost all of them, gritting out a tough hold for 2-1, then breaking for 3-1 after Samsonova held game point. Swiatek erased a Samsonova game point for the fifth time to make it 5-1.

Swiatek converted her first set point with a backhand winner in the following game. Swiatek took control for good in the second set, breaking for 3-0 and converting her sixth break point of the game. Swiatek won the game by winning the previous 11 games in a row.

Swiatek will now take on former Dubai finalist Karolina Pliskova in Thursday's quarterfinals. Swiatek has won her only previous meeting against former World No.1 Pliskova -- a 6-0, 6-0 rout in the 2021 Rome final.