Iga Swiatek returned to winning ways as she claimed the Qatar Open 2024 title with a dominant win against the world no.4 Elena Rybakina on Sunday. Swiatek bagged the first WTA 1000 title of 2024 after her shock exit in the third round of the Australian Open last month.
The Polish star also entered the record books by recording a hat-trick of title wins in the Qatar Open. Swiatek became the first player after Serena Williams to clinch three successive WTA 1000 titles in the same event. Legendary American had recorded a hat-trick in the Miami Open from 2013-15.
Swiatek boasts a sensational record of 12 straight wins in the Qatar Open having lost only one game in Doha so far. She defeated two former no.1 stars Victoria Azarenka and Karolína Pliskovain in the quarter-final and semi-final games respectively before taking on in-form Rybakina in the final.
Rybakina was impressive in the first set with a 4-1 lead but Swiatek bounced back to take the game by 7-6. The three-time major winner then dominated the second set with a 6-2 win to clinch her 19th singles title.
"I'm happy that I kept working and just didn't really think about too many stuff during this week and just focused on the right things, because I think it was the key," Swiatek said during the post-match presentation. "Coming here and being kind of the double-defending champion wasn't easy. So I'm happy that I have this experience already, and hopefully I'm going to use it."
Playing for the first time since her shock third-round Australian Open exit, Swiatek enjoyed a dominant run in the tournament to become the first-ever player to win three titles in Doha. Swiatek and Rybakina are set to feature in the next week's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, the second WTA 1000 event of the season.
