Top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland continued her mastery of fifth-seeded Coco Gauff with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on Friday to reach the title match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
Swiatek improved to 6-0 all-time versus Gauff while finishing out the victory in 88 minutes. Swiatek will face Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova — who knocked off third-seeded Jessica Pegula — in Saturday’s championship match.
Swiatek converted five of 10 break points while advancing to her 15th career title match. Gauff was plagued by 20 unforced errors.
Krejcikova recorded six aces and had a 31-11 edge in winners during her 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 victory over Pegula. Krejcikova didn’t lose a point in the first two games of the third set en route to finishing off Pegula.
Merida Open
Italy’s Camila Giorgi charged into the semifinals at Merida, Mexico, in emphatic style, shutting out second-seeded Sloane Stephens 6-0, 6-0 in 47 minutes.
Giorgi won 90 percent of her first-serve points, never faced a break point and converted half of her 12 break opportunities. Up next for Giorgi will be a matchup against fourth-seeded Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, who prevailed 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 against seventh-seeded Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy.
Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson upset top-seeded Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 6-4 to advance to a semifinal match against the United States’ Caty McNally, who beat Australia’s No. 12-seeded Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
