Swiatek steamrolls into second straight Doha final

Iga Swiatek blew past Veronika Kudermetova with the loss of just one game, taking 57 minutes to reach her second straight final at the WTA Doha event on Friday.

Poland’s world No. 1 who picked up eight titles – including two Grand Slams – last season began her 2022 run of form here a year ago.

Swiatek will repeat history if she defeats Jessica Pegula in the Saturday final after the second-seeded American beat Maria Sakkari 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.

The top seed easily handled gusty conditions on court in the Gulf, striking 14 winners and breaking the Kudermetova serve five times.

“I was pretty worried about how I was going to compete with the conditions today, so I’m glad that I could play the smart way,” Swiatek said.

“I’m pretty happy that I was so solid.”

Swiatek leads Pegula 4-2 in their series, with the American scoring a win last month in the United Cup which began the season.

“It always takes a lot to win against Jessie,” Pegula said. “She’s a great player, a really solid one.

“I’m not going to predict anything or over-analyse. I’m just going to go out and play my best tennis, and we’ll see.”