Iga Swiatek continued her march towards Qatar Open glory with victory against Daria Kasatkina on Wednesday.
The Polish star, who demolished Janice Tjen in her opening match, defeated her Australian opponent 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
Swiatek will face Maria Sakkari later on Thursday. Swiatek has a 4-3 record against Sakkari, last defeating the Greek star at the 2025 Qatar Open.
Do you think Iga Swiatek will win a Grand Slam this season?
Swiatek has already made history in Doha, despite having yet to win the event. The 24-year-old, a winner of six major titles already, has surpassed one of Serena Williams’ records
Iga Swiatek breaks Serena Williams’ record
As per OptaAce, Iga Swiatek has now reached the quarter-finals in 26 of the 42 WTA-1000 events she has appeared in, surpassing Serena Williams for the best since the format introduction in 2009.
Swiatek has reached the quarter-finals of these events at a rate of 61.9 per cent. Comparatively, Serena Williams reached the last eight at 30 of the 49 WTA 1000 events she competed in: a rate of 61.2 per cent.
Swiatek will head into her next match against Sakkari full of confidence. After all, she has won four consecutive matches against the Greek player, dating back to the 2022 Qatar Open.
Ahead of the contest, Swiatek said: “Overall I think my level improved in 2022 so I could do a bit more, had more variety, and could push a little bit more.
“But against Maria, it’s always tough. It’s always like every game matters, every point matters.”
Sakkari, who defeated Varvara Gracheva in her last match, spoke about the ‘huge challenge’ of playing Swiatek.
After defeating Gracheva, Sakkari said: “Iga is very solid but at the same time, she’s very aggressive.
“She moves the ball really well. She moves very good on the court. She doesn’t give you a lot of errors. So it’s going to be a huge challenge for me.
Who is your money on?
“When we played last year here, it was an easy score but it wasn’t an easy match, I have to say.”
Swiatek’s statistical performance against Kasatkina
Swiatek has been working on her serve in training, and it seems this work paid off against Kasatkina.
The Pole struck seven aces and made 63 per cent of her first serves – winning 64 per cent of those points. She also won 55 per cent of her second-serve points and converted eight of 18 break-point opportunities.
Kasatkina, meanwhile, hit only one ace and struggled on her second serve, winning only 28 per cent of those points.
If Swiatek defeats Maria Sakkari on Thursday, she will play Karolina Muchova or Anna Kalinskaya in the semi-finals.
In a potential final, Swiatek could play either Elena Rybakina, Victoria Mboko, Jelena Ostapenko or Elisabetta Cocciaretto
