Iga Świątek defeated Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6:1, 6:1 to advance to the 1/8 finals of the WTA 1000 tennis tournament on hard courts in Dubai (2.8 million USD prize pool). The next rival of the leader of the world ranking of tennis players will be Russian Lyudmila Samsonova.
The 21-year-old, top-seeded Pole had a first-round bye, and in the second round she was a year younger, 39th in the WTA Fernandez rankings – 2021 US Open Grand Slam runner-up.
SEE ALSO: Iga Świątek is still at the top of the WTA rankings. Magda Linette maintained her position
Świątek, who won the final of the Doha tournament on Saturday and defended her title, faced the Canadian for the second time. Last January in Adelaide, she won just as easily 6-1, 6-2.
The next rival could be a bigger challenge for Świątek. Ranked 13th in the world, Samsonowa came close to beating the Pole in the semi-finals of last year’s tournament in Stuttgart, where she lost 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 5-7. She will join the match with the favorite after having eliminated the Spaniard Paula Badosa in the first round and forfeited in the second.
In the previous edition of the competition in the United Arab Emirates, Świątek had reached the 1/8 finals. She then lost to the final winner of the event, Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.
Magdalena Fręch was eliminated in the singles qualifier. In doubles, Alicja Rosolska and Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri lost in the round of 16 to third-seeded Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs 1:6, 2:6.
Singles round 2 match result:
Iga Świątek (Poland, 1) – Leylah Fernandez (Canada) 6-1, 6-1
CM, PAP
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