Iga Swiatek solves Sloane Stephens, increases Middle East win streak in Dubai

Iga Swiatek hit the ground running at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, turning around from her winning week at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in impressive style against Sloane Stephens, knocking out the 2017 US Open champion, 6-4, 6-4.

"I wouldn't say I'm relieved because I knew that after my last year's experience, I could adjust quickly. I had a lot of positivity in my mind. But for sure, Sloane played really well.

"We both had many games with deuces and break points that we couldn't convert!" she added with a laugh. "Because of that, it was a really interesting match."

Swiatek triumphed in a Doha for a third straight year on Saturday, and faced a formidable challenge in Stephens in her fifth match in eight days but recovered well from multiple break deficits in the opening set to advance in just under two hours on Center Court.

The win will help create further distance between herself and world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who lost in her first match since defending her Australian Open title to Donna Vekic earlier in the afternoon.

Swiatek, who reached the final in Dubai last year, had reason to feel confident against Stephens, whom she had beaten in her last two hard-court matches in 2022, but struggled early against the former world No. 3, who thrice led the top seed by a break in the first set.

Stephens appeared in hot pursuit of only her third Top 10 victory since 2021, but faltered at each opportunity to consolidate her lead and ultimately ceded the final three games of the set to a settled Swiatek.

"I was putting a lot of power into my shots and she was using it pretty well, reading the game well, as well. I needed to focus more on tactics than just hitting hard."

After digging out of a 0-40 hole early in the second, Swiatek gamely applied pressure to the Stephens serve, clocking multiple backhand winners and forcing Stephens to save four break chances in a lengthy sixth game.

Stephens saved two more break points in her next service game but Swiatek would not be denied, moving to match point and securing victory with a well-struck forehand winner.

In all, Swiatek hit 21 winners to 16 from Stephens, and engineered 15 break points throughout the one hour, 57 minute contest, converting five while not giving up any breaks of serve after the first set.

Up next for the world No. 1 is an intriguing third-round clash with another former world No. 3, Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. Svitolina is in the midst of a wildly successful return from maternity leave. Though injury curtailed her Australian Open campaign, the new mom has looked strong in Dubai, winning her second straight-set match of the week over Tatjana Maria on Tuesday.

Svitolina won their most recent match on grass, where she went on to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon.

"We have a lot of respect for each other and have worked together for Ukraine. We played a tough match at Wimbledon, but I learned a lot and I'm just going to try and learn my lesson so I can play a bit better."