Swiatek eases into third straight Doha quarterfinal; faces Azarenka next

Doha, Feb 15 (IANS) World No.1 Iga Swiatek extended her impressive Qatar Open winning streak by defeating No.14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 6-4 in the Round of 16.

Two-time defending champion Swiatek has now won 10 straight matches at the tournament after besting Alexandrova in their Wednesday evening showdown with the 1-hour and 31-minute victory.

The Pole will now play another two-time Doha champion, Victoria Azarenka, in the quarterfinals. Former World No.1 Azarenka beat No.8 seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 6-3 in the night match, for her third win over Ostapenko already this year.

By knocking out World No.19 Alexandrova, Swiatek has won her last 11 matches against Top 20 opposition, and is 4-0 against that group so far this year. Swiatek's last loss to a fellow member of the Top 20 was to Veronika Kudermetova in the Tokyo quarterfinals last September, according to WTA.

Earlier on Wednesday, former World No.1 Naomi Osaka moved into the quarterfinals after her Round of 16 opponent, World No.37 Lesia Tsurenko, withdrew from their match with an elbow injury.

Osaka, who was on maternity leave for the end of 2022 and all of 2023, is into her first WTA Tour quarterfinal since she reached the Miami Open final in March of 2022.

In the quarterfinals, two-time WTA 1000 titlist Osaka will face another former World No.1, Karolina Pliskova, who defeated her fellow Czech Linda Noskova in three sets 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.