Dubai Duty Free Championships: Iga Swiatek demolishes Liudmila Samsonova to reach the last eight | Tennis News

Iga Swiatek continued her domination of the WTA tour by smashing Liudmila Samsonova 6-1 6-0 in 75 minutes to reach the quarter-finals in Dubai.

Swiatek dropped only a single game en route to another emphatic win – finishing with 18 winners to just six unforced errors.

The Polish world No 1 will now take on former Dubai finalist Karolina Pliskova in Thursday’s quarter-finals.

Pliskova became the first of seven former finalists in Dubai to reach the quarter-finals with a 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 defeat of Anhelina Kalinina.

The Czech reaches the last eight of the competition for the fifth time and first since 2020.

Swiatek won their only previous meeting against Pliskova – a 6-0 6-0 demolition at the 2021 Rome final.

Coco Gauff and Madison Keys will also face off in an all-American quarter-final clash.

Gauff advanced after Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina withdrew from their scheduled match due to a lower back injury.

Keys booked her spot in the next round with a 6-2 6-1 win over Victoria Azarenka with the former US Open finalist needing just 57 minutes to claim her maiden victory over Azarenka.

Karolina Muchova snapped Belinda Bencic’s seven-match winning streak with a 6-1 6-4 success to set up a date with No 3 seed Jessica Pegula.

Last year’s French Open finalist defeated Ana Bogdan 6-4 6-3.