Swiatek eases into Doha semifinals; Pliskova tops Osaka in two tiebreaks

World No.1 Iga Swiatek's attempt to win three straight Qatar TotalEnergies Open titles is still alive after a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Victoria Azarenka in Thursday's quarterfinals.

In a matchup between a pair of two-time Doha champions, Swiatek needed 1 hour and 14 minutes to oust former World No.1 Azarenka and reach the semifinals. Swiatek is now 3-1 lifetime against Azarenka, with wins in their past three meetings.

In the semifinals, Swiatek will face another former World No.1 when she takes on Karolina Pliskova. The 2017 Doha champion Pliskova defeated yet another former World No.1 in the nightcap quarterfinal, squeaking past Naomi Osaka 7-6(6), 7-6(5).

Pliskova continues her own current winning streak on tour. With her 1-hour and 43-minute victory over Osaka, the Czech has won her last nine matches -- in the last 10 days .

Looking ahead to their semifinal showdown, Swiatek is 3-0 against Pliskova, including two wins last year.

Swiatek streak continues: Top-seeded Swiatek is up to 11 straight match-wins at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open. Overall, her career win-loss record at the event is 12-1, with her only defeat coming in the 2020 second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.

"I felt like I started a little bit playing too aggressively maybe, but then I found my rhythm and the proper way to play," Swiatek said about her win over Azarenka. "I kept it till the end of the match. I'm happy that I could analyze during the match and then take a lesson from that."

Like Swiatek, Azarenka won her Doha titles back-to-back, over a decade ago in 2012 and 2013. Azarenka brought her Doha championship experience to the first set and was a point away from breaking Swiatek for a 5-3 lead.

But the top seed got out of that jam, then earned a break point of her own at 4-4 behind a barrage of blistering backhands. Azarenka double faulted to cede that game and put Swiatek up a break, and the Pole routinely served out the set from there.

The second set was much more straightforward, as Swiatek romped through it without facing a break point. Swiatek went 5-for-6 on break points on the day, and she ended the match with 17 winners to just five from Azarenka.

Swiatek is still bidding to become the first player to win a Hologic WTA Tour event three consecutive times since Serena Williams prevailed at the Miami Open in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Pliskova edges Osaka again: Osaka came into Thursday's quarterfinal aiming to avenge the first loss of her 2024 comeback, which was to Pliskova in Brisbane in January. As might be expected between two of the tour's top servers, the match was settled in tiebreaks.

In the first-set breaker, Pliskova was down a mini-break at 5-3, but she followed up a forehand winner with a deft backhand drop shot to reach parity at 5-5. Osaka saved one set point at 6-5, but Pliskova found another sturdy forehand at 7-6 to convert her second set point.

Three consecutive lengthy games at the end of the second set, with Osaka erasing one match point at 5-4 and two more at 6-5, led the pair into another tiebreak. A double fault from Osaka gave Pliskova a 3-0 lead, but an Osaka return dribbled over the netcord on the next point, and the breaker eventually became competitive again through 5-5.

However, Pliskova queued up her fourth match point by painting the lines twice before slamming a forehand winner to reach 6-5. There, Osaka misfired on a service return and Pliskova eked out the gripping win.

"Beating all these top players in this week, it’s incredible," Pliskova said afterward. "Especially Naomi, such a champion. We played already [in 2024] so I knew it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be about a couple points, and taking the chances, which there were just a couple of them.

"Happy that I survived somehow and didn’t have to stay for a third set, that would be difficult."

Pliskova is now 5-2 against Osaka, including her two victories this year. Pliskova was out-aced by Osaka 10-8 on Thursday, but Pliskova is still this year's tour leader in aces, with a total of 111.