Coco Gauff, sets up Iga Swiatek match at Dubai Championships
The fifth seed Coco Gauff advanced to the last four rounds of the Dubai Open after defeating Madison Keys in an all-American quarterfinal. After a 6-2, 7-5 victory against Keys, Gauff advanced to her third semi-final in her career at the WTA 1000 level or above. The top seed, Iga Swiatek, will be her opponent in the semi-final on Friday. Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open winner, fell to Barbora Krejcikova in the quarterfinals with scores of 6-0, 6-7 (2-7), and 1-6. Third-seeded Jessica Pegula, who had a walkover over Karolina Muchova, will take on Krejcikova. Gauff didn't need to play on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals since Kazakhstan's ninth seed Elena Rybakina withdrew due to a lower back injury. The current Wimbledon champion is Rybakina. Despite scarcely breaking a sweat, Swiatek made it to the semifinals. In the third round, the top-seeded Pole defeated Russia's Liudmila Samsonova, the 14th-seeded player, in 76 minutes. When Karolina Pliskova was forced to withdraw from the competition due to a viral infection, the defending French Open champion gained a walkover into the semi-finals without ever having to set foot on the court. Previously, Swiatek defeated Samsonova 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. Three-time grand slam champion Swiatek has won five straight matches, including last week's successful defence of her Qatar Open crown. Before leaving the competition, Pliskova had defeated Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2.
In order to advance to the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Sabalenka defeated Jelena Ostapenko 2-6, 6-1, 6-1, improving her record to 13-0 for the year. But, Krejcikova proved to be too strong for her on Thursday. Krejcikova defeated fellow Czech player Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-2 to move to the quarterfinals. After winning a championship in Adelaide and her maiden grand slam triumph at the Australian Open, Sabalenka was one of the favourites in this competition. In one hour and 41 minutes, she defeated Ostapenko, the defending Dubai Open champion, winning 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. Sabalenka remarked, "I mean, she played incredible tennis in the first set. "That quick tennis wasn't for me." She had just finished gathering everything, and it was all in. "I don't know; I must have turned around somehow,"
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