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The WTA Qatar Open 2022 witnessed a historic first on Friday. The number 7 seed Poland's Iga Swiatek notched a breakthrough win over Maria Sakkari who has been one of her toughest opponents in the past. Swiatek got the better of her Greek opponent in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in a big news for those looking for WTA Qatar Open 2022 results.
Post the victory, Swiatek understandably expressed her delight as she set up a summit clash with Anett Kontaveit on Saturday. "For sure I showed consistency throughout the whole tournament, and I'm really happy that I could keep my level of tennis at a really high level," Swiated stated in the post-match press conference.
It is pertinent to note that this is Swiatek's first entry in the Dohan final where she is set to be facing a number 4 seeded tennis star. Both are exemplary players but the 2020 French Open winner Swiatek will be aiming to clinch the fourth WTA singles title of her career while Kontaveit grabbed her seventh.
As far as the semifinal clash is concerned, Swiatek and Sakkari had each of their first three meetings in the year gone by. Interestingly, on all those occasions it was Sakkari who had emerged as the winner, winning all the matches in straight sets. Moreover, it was Sakkari who had ended Switek's French Open title defence as she handed the latter's run in the quarterfinals.
However, on Friday, Swiatek finally seemed to have an answer to each challenge that Sakkari posed. Consequently, she moved into a WTA 1000 final for the second time in her career and only the first time on a hard court.
"These matches when I play against players that I really didn't have a good head-to-head before, it shows I did a good job changing that," Swiatek stated as per WTA Tennis' official website.
"It's like a brand new start for me. Even though I have been on tour and my opponents are the same, I feel like these tournaments are different. That's really great for me," she added.