Tennis: untouchable, Swiatek reaches the semi-finals in Dubai

Iga Swiatek continues her inexorable march forward: the Pole qualified Thursday for the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai by beating the Chinese Zheng Qinwen (7th) 6-3, 6-2 in 1 h 26 min.

Swiatek, who has eight victories in a row, without the slightest set lost, will face for a place in the final the American Coco Gauff (3rd) or the Russian Anna Kalinskaya (40th), opponents in the last quarter-final.

Merciless in returns against a player who had broken down on her first ball, Swiatek took Zhang's first service game, to immediately pull away 2-0.

Despite the quality of Zheng's returns, the world No.1 retained this break in advance until the end of a first set won with authority 6-3 in 42 minutes. A first set where the Chinese only had one opportunity to break.

In the next set, Zheng obtained a new break point, her second and last, at 2-2, which she did not know how to convert like the first.

She then cracked under the blows of Swiatek, who lined up four games to secure her sixth victory in six confrontations against the Chinese.

At the bottom of the table, completely bare, the Romanian Sorana Cirstea, victorious in the quarters over the Czech Marketa Vondrousova 2-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2, will meet the Italian Jasmine Paolini, who took advantage of the Elena Rybakina's package, in a totally unexpected semi-final.

Cirstea (22nd) was however led 6-2, 5-1 by Vondrousova (8th), but the Czech left-hander then completely disunited against the Romanian, who chipped away at the deficit, saving six match points in the process, to push Vondrousova to the decisive game which she overcame 7 points to 1.

This decisive game reflected the collapse of the winner of the last Wimbledon. On her momentum, the Romanian made the break in the first game of the last round to never be caught again and win in 2 h 41 min.

“I don’t know how I managed to win,” she said, in disbelief, just after her victory.

As she approaches her 34th birthday, Cirstea, who in her 17-year career has only reached two Grand Slam quarter-finals (at Roland-Garros in 2009 and at the US Open 14 years later), will meet Paolini for a place in the final.

The Italian (26th), who only has one title to her name, a WTA 125 in 2021, qualified without playing after the withdrawal of Rybakina (4th), finalist of the WTA 1000 in Doha last Sunday, who was ill .