Iga Swiatek continued her ruthless form as she progressed with ease to the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships third round on Tuesday.

The world number one cruised to a 6-1 6-1 triumph over 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, just three days after winning the Qatar Ladies Open in Doha.

That marked Swiatek's 41st main-draw victory in WTA 1000 events in just her 53rd outing, only Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova (52 each) have won more than 40 such matches in fewer attempts.

The 21-year-old has won her last 35 hard-court matches against opponents ranked outside the world's top 30, though Swiatek said she had to adapt against Canada's Fernandez.

"It wasn't that easy for sure. It was much tougher than the score said," said Swiatek, who will look to make the fourth round for the first time in Dubai when she faces Liudmila Samsonova.

"In the second set ... I needed to go a level up. I didn't have much time to get used to the conditions, but I'm just happy I could play solid tennis."

Jessica Pegula, the third favourite at the tournament, defeated Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 5-7 6-1 to set up a third-round battle with Ana Bogdan, who overcame Shelby Rogers 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

Fifth seed Coco Gauff coasted past Aliaksandra Sasnovich with a 6-0 6-4 victory, teeing up a meeting with Elena Rybakina, who slammed six aces in a 7-5 6-2 defeat of Marie Bouzkova.

World number two Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Rybakina at this year's Australian Open final, made light work of lucky loser Lauren Davis in a straight-sets rout as she claimed her 12th straight win in 2023.

Dubai's defending champion Jelena Ostapenko will be the next challenge for Sabalenka after defeating 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova for her seventh straight win at the event.

Barbora Krejcikova saved four match points en route to a 6-4 4-6 7-5 win over seventh seed Daria Kasatkina and will meet Karolina Pliskova next after she downed sixth favourite Maria Sakkari in straight sets.

Belinda Bencic and Marta Kostyuk played out the match of the day as the former claimed a 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 triumph, with that clash taking three hours and 27 minutes – the second-longest on the WTA Tour this year.

Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula will clash in a WTA Tour final for the first time after taking wildly contrasting routes through to the Qatar Open title match.

While Pegula was taken to three sets by Maria Sakkari on Friday, world number one and defending champion Swiatek required only 56 minutes to score a 6-0 6-1 drubbing of Veronika Kudermetova.

In windy conditions in Doha, the top two seeds set up a Saturday showdown that will have plenty riding on it in terms of their rivalry.

When Swiatek lost to Pegula in early January at the United Cup in Sydney, winning only four games, the Pole was left in tears.

The rematch will either see Swiatek reassert her dominance over Pegula, or see the American show she has the 21-year-old's number for now.

Swiatek won all four matches she played against Pegula last season, with French Open and US Open quarter-finals victories among that set, but their last match has put a fresh spin on the head-to-head.

Crushing Kudermetova showed Swiatek at her ruthless best, and the world number one said: "I feel great. I was pretty worried how I was going to cope with the conditions today so I'm glad I played a smart way and I'm pretty happy I was so solid."

She is relishing the chance to test herself against Pegula again, saying: "It always takes a lot to win against Jessie. She's a great player, a really solid one, and we'll see, honestly. I'm not going to predict anything or over-analyse, I'll just play my best tennis."

Pegula overcame Greek fifth seed Sakkari 6-2 4-6 6-1 in the first semi-final.

While Swiatek will be chasing a 12th WTA-level singles title, the 28-year-old Pegula is after a third such trophy.

Speaking of the Sakkari match, Pegula said: "That was probably the hardest conditions I've ever had to play in, wind-wise. I played very smart."

Iga Swiatek will play Veronika Kudermetova in the Qatar Open semi-finals after the Russian defeated Coco Gauff in the last eight.

World number one Swiatek was already assured of her semi-final place heading into Thursday as Belinda Bencic's withdrawal had granted her a walkover.

She could watch on then as Kudermetova upset fourth seed Gauff 6-3 3-6 6-1 in Doha.

Swiatek has won each of her previous two matches against Kudermetova in straight sets, but the world number 11 will be on a high after her first top-10 win of the season.

It will be the 25-year-old's second semi of the season, although she withdrew from her Adelaide 2 match-up against Bencic.

While Gauff is out, there remains American representation as her doubles partner Jessica Pegula made light work of Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3 6-2.

Pegula, the second seed, will face Greece's Maria Sakkari, who overcame third favourite Carolina Garcia 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) in a battling encounter.

Iga Swiatek started the defence of her Qatar Open title by taking less than an hour to beat Danielle Collins on Wednesday.

Playing for the first time since she was knocked out of the Australian Open by Elena Rybakina in the fourth round last month, normal service was resumed by the domineering world number one in Doha.

The top seed brushed Collins aside in only 53 minutes, racing to a 6-0 6-1 victory to march into the third round.

Collins only won four points as she suffered the misery of a first-set bagel, an inspired Swiatek taking the opener in only 21 minutes.

Swiatek's run of games won was ended at nine when Collins got on the board at 3-1, but the Pole broke for a fifth time before serving it out for an emphatic victory.

The 21-year-old three-time grand slam champion, who made only six unforced errors, will do battle with Belinda Bencic for a place in the quarter-finals.

Bencic beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 to take her place in the last 16, storming back from 4-1 down in the second set when she appeared to be on her way out.

Second seed Jessica Pegula saved two match puts as she dug deep to beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 2-6 7-5 to set up a meeting with Beatriz Haddad Maia, who beat Daria Kasatkina in straight sets.

Fourth seed Coco Gauff got the better of Petra Kvitova 6-3 7-6 (8-6), while Veronika Kudermetova and Maria Sakkari also made it through.

Belinda Bencic continued her impressive run of form this season with a straight-sets win over Viktoriya Tomova in the opening round of the Qatar Open.

The seventh seed triumphed at the Abu Dhabi Open last week to add to her Adelaide International 2 success from January and is now seeking another title in Doha.

Bencic eased to a 6-0 6-1 win against Bulgarian qualifier Tomova and will face two-time tournament winner Victoria Azarenka for a place in the quarter-finals.

Maria Sakkari also advanced on Tuesday, overcoming Zheng Qinwen 6-2 3-6 6-3, as did fellow seeded player Daria Kasatkina with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 win against Rebecca Marino.

Zheng may have suffered an early exit, but last season's WTA Newcomer of the Year produced the shot of the tournament with a winning tweener en route to taking the second set.

Petra Kvitova, another two-time winner in Qatar, defeated Zhang Shuai 7-5 6-2, while Danielle Collins beat Elise Mertens 6-4 7-6 (8-6) and will now face top seed Iga Swiatek.

Second seed Jessica Pegula will take on Jelena Ostapenko, meanwhile, after the Latvian proved too strong for Madison Keys in a 7-5 6-2 victory.

Belinda Bencic breezed through to the Abu Dhabi Open final after a commanding 6-2 6-3 victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia on Saturday.

The world number nine, who is yet to drop a set this week, is into her second WTA final of 2023, having triumphed in Adelaide last month.

Haddad Maia arrived in the clash fresh from winning each of her previous six encounters with top-10 opponents, including her quarter-final victory over Wimbledon champion and Australian Open finalist Elena Rybakina.

But the Brazilian had already spent almost eight hours on court in this event prior to this contest, in which Bencic dropped just five games on the way to wracking up her 11th win of the campaign – the joint-most on the WTA Tour alongside Melbourne winner Aryna Sabalenka.

She will play number eight seed Liudmila Samsonova in Sunday's final after the Russian defeated Zheng Qinwen 6-4 1-6 6-4.

After being edged out in the first set, Zheng responded to motor through the second and seemed to have the momentum going into the third, but Samsonova showed impressive resolve to see off three break points against her, before taking her first on match point.

At the Linz Open, top seed Maria Sakkari is out after going down 3-6 6-3 6-4 to sixth seed Petra Martic in a match that lasted over two and a half hours.

The Croatian will play Anastasia Potapova in the final after the number eight seed claimed yet another three-set victory this week to see off Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 and secure her fifth WTA final appearance.

Belinda Bencic stood firm to reach the quarter-finals of the Abu Dhabi Open while fellow favourites Anett Kontaveit and Jelena Ostapenko headed home.

Bencic clinched her second last-eight spot of the year with a 6-4 7-5 win over Marta Kostyuk, though the world number nine was pushed hard by the Ukrainian, who remains without a top-10 win in her career after failing to see through the second set from 5-3 up.

The second seed will next face Shelby Rogers, who advanced courtesy of a walkover following Kontaveit's retirement through injury after falling 4-1 behind in the pair's decisive third set. 

Kontaveit was not the only seed to fall, with Ostapenko slipping to a surprise 7-6 (12-10) 6-1 loss against China's Zheng Qinwen.

Fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova fared better, however, racing to a 6-1 7-5 win against Elise Mertens to keep her campaign alive. 

At the Linz Open, top seed Maria Sakkari cruised to a straight-sets success against Varvara Gracheva, while Anastasia Potapova battled to a 7-5 3-6 6-3 victory against Jule Niemeier.

Third seed Irina-Camelia Begu was the highest-ranked player to exit in the last 16 in Austria, suffering a 6-2 6-1 defeat against Danish 20-year-old Clara Tauson.

Maria Sakkari joined eight of her fellow co-stars from the Netflix series Break Point in suffering an early exit from the Australian Open.

Of the 10 players to have featured in the series, which first aired on the streaming platform last week, only Felix Auger-Aliassime remains following Sakkari's defeat to Lin Zhu on Friday.

Sakkari, the WTA sixth seed, went down 7-6 1-6 6-4 to world number 87 Lin, who claimed her first victory over a top-10 opponent.

Lin became the sixth Chinese female player to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open in the Open Era.

"I mean honestly, am I in a dream?" Lin said in her on-court interview.

"I have to believe in myself that I have the ability to be able to play at this high level. Who knows what's going to happen? You never know."

She added in her press conference: "It means a lot. It makes me believe that I can play at this level and I can beat a player like her.

"It took me a long time to get here, and so that's why I'm so emotional. This is not the end. Let's keep going."

Sakkari's defeat saw the Greek join Thanasi Kokkinakis, Taylor Fritz, Matteo Berrettini, Casper Ruud and Ons Jabeur in exiting the season's first grand slam within the opening three rounds.

Ruud and Jabeur were the respective second seeds in the men's and women's singles, while Berrettini and Kokkinakis both fell foul of a resurgent Andy Murray, whose victory comeback over Kokkinakis lasted almost six hours and went on beyond 4:00 am local time.

Nick Kyrgios, Ajla Tomljanovic and Paula Badosa also featured in the five-part Netflix series, which will air its second batch of episodes later in the year, but all three withdrew from the Australian Open due to injury.

A downcast Sakkari, who had rubbished the suggestion of any "Netflix curse" in a previous press conference, told reporters: "I think that my level was not good at all. I started the match by being very defensive and not hitting the ball, just being scared of playing my game.

"She had basically nothing to lose. She was playing free. She was enjoying herself. She was playing very, very well. I didn't handle the situation well.

"She was barely missing anything, [not] making any unforced errors. That's how I felt. She was very solid from both sides. I've seen her on the tour. I've never seen her playing that well, to be honest.

"Of course, beating Jil [Teichmann] in the round before, she was pretty pumped and motivated to have a good result here. She has achieved it already by beating two very good players."

Lin's next opponent will be two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who became the eighth female player in the Open Era to win 45+ main draw matches at the Australian Open by beating Madison Keys 1-6 6-2 6-1.

Azarenka joins Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova on that list.

"She's a great champion," Lin said of Azarenka. "She's a great player. I will just keep playing like I played today and trust myself, enjoy the match. Who knows?"

Iga Swiatek was in tears after losing to Jessica Pegula as the United States took a 2-0 United Cup semi-final lead over Poland, while Italy moved into command against Greece on Friday.

World number one Swiatek was beaten 6-2 6-2 by the impressive Pegula in just 71 minutes at Ken Rosewall Arena.

Swiatek got the better of Pegula three times last year, but the American made light work of seeing off the three-time grand slam champion this time around to put USA in front.

Pegula struck 21 winners, attacking the Swiatek serve in a commanding display just over a week before the Australian Open gets under way.

Swiatek's emotions came out after she was emphatically defeated by the world number three in Sydney.

Pegula said: "I played her today, conditions are totally different than anywhere else I played her. Obviously maybe I had a little bit of an advantage, they just flew in yesterday.

"Definitely the fastest conditions I have played her [in]. Every other place I've played her has been pretty slow. I think that favoured me a lot, and I was able to use that to my advantage and play a really super clean match.

"I think I just was able to execute my game plan probably better than I have previous times."

Frances Tiafoe backed up Pegula's win by beating Kacper Zuk, who replaced the unwell Daniel Michalski, 6-3 6-3.

That ensures Taylor Fritz has a chance to put the United States into the final if he beats Hubert Hurkacz on Saturday.

Italy are in control of the other semi-final following victories for Martina Trevisan and Lorenzo Musetti.

Trevisan upset Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 before Musetti outclassed Stefanos Sakellaridis, winning 6-1 6-1.

Wins for Hubert Hurkacz and Magda Linette saw Poland advance to the City Finals of the United Cup in Australia on Tuesday.

Hurkacz made it through a tough encounter against Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to give Poland a 2-1 lead in their Group B tie with Switzerland in Brisbane, before Linette came from behind to beat Jil Teichmann 5-7 6-4 6-1 to clinch it.

Poland will face Italy in the Brisbane final, whose 5-0 whitewash of Norway included Matteo Berrettini sealing victory with a 6-4 6-4 win over Casper Ruud.

In Perth, Croatia advanced to the City Finals after a dramatic day that saw Caroline Garcia get France on the board with a straight sets win against Petra Martic, before Adrian Mannarino came from a set down against Borna Gojo to serve for the match as he looked to bring his country level at 2-2.

However, Gojo broke back in a tense encounter before winning a deciding tie-break to send Croatia through to face Greece, who sealed a 4-1 win against Belgium.

Stefanos Sakellaridis recovered from going a set behind to beat Zizou Bergs, before Maria Sakkari overcame Elise Mertens 6-1 7-5, with Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas adding some gloss to the score with a mixed doubles success against Kirsten Flipkens and Michael Geerts. 

Spain and Australia were unable to progress but the hosts at least had the consolation of securing a victory thanks to wins for Jason Kubler against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and the mixed doubles duo of John Peers and Sam Stosur against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and David Vega Hernandez.

The USA had already secured their Finals berth against Great Britain in Sydney, but were ruthless as they finished off their tie against Germany to win 5-0.

After Jessica Pegula beat Laura Siegemund 6-3 6-2, Frances Tiafoe also defeated Oscar Otte in straight sets, before the American duo combined to beat Siegemund and Daniel Altmaier 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 10-7 to complete a clean sweep.

Maria Sakkari sealed victory for top-seeded Greece over Bulgaria in the United Cup with a straight sets win over Viktoriya Tomova.

Team-mates Stefanos Tsitsipas and Despina Papamichail had already won their matches on Thursday, and Sakkari's 6-3 6-2 triumph gave Greece an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Michail Pervolarakis was defeated by Dimitar Kuzmanov in the final singles match between the nations, but Tsitsipas and Sakkari teamed up to earn Greece a 6-4 6-4 success in the doubles encounter to end on a high.

World number 16 Matteo Berrettini helped Italy topple Brazil by overcoming Thiago Monteiro 6-4 7-6 (9-7).

That gave Italy a 2-1 lead, and Lucia Bronzetti finished the job by demolishing Laura Pigossi in straight sets, with Brazil powerless to overturn the deficit despite Berrettini and Camilla Rosatello's defeat in the doubles match.

US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe clinched a win for the United States over the Czech Republic after opponent Tomas Machac retired with an ankle injury with the score at 6-3 2-4.

Petra Kvitova had defeated Jessica Pegula 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 in the third singles match to give Czech Republic hope, but Tiafoe's win settled the contest before Pegula and Taylor Fritz joined up for success in the doubles.

Great Britain were 3-2 victors over Australia despite a pair of defeats on day two in Sydney.

Cameron Norrie's triumph over Nick Kyrgios' replacement Alex De Minaur on day one had helped Great Britain to a 2-0 lead over the hosts, and Harriet Dart prevailed over Maddison Inglis to wrap up the victory.

Dan Evans was then beaten 6-3 7-6 (7-3) by Jason Kubler before Dart and Jonny O'Mara fell to defeat in the doubles, but Great Britain's strong start saw them through.

France and Switzerland completed 5-0 sweeps of Argentina and Kazakhstan respectively, with Caroline Garcia winning both her singles and doubles matches in straight sets while Stan Wawrinka saw off Alexander Bublik 6-3 7-6 (7-3).

Caroline Garcia produced a dominant performance to overcome Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-2 in the last four of the WTA Finals in Fort Worth on Sunday.

Garcia emerged as the victor of a topsy-turvy tussle with Daria Kasatkina on Saturday, but enjoyed a far more routine outing as she sealed her first final appearance at the competition.

Sakkari had cruised through the Nancy Richey Group with three straight-sets victories, but fell some way short of those lofty standards as she failed to force a single break-point in the opener.

Garcia took 80 per cent of points on her first serve in the opening set, breaking in the fourth game and dictating proceedings from the baseline in impressive fashion.

The match resembled something of a procession after Garcia claimed consecutive breaks to seize the initiative in the second set, and the French Open champion sealed the victory when Sakkari's weak return clipped the net. 

Garcia has now won seven matches against top-10 opponents in 2022, becoming the first French player to post seven such victories in a calendar year since Amelie Mauresmo in 2009.

The world number six is also the first player to reach the title match at the WTA Finals after turning 29 years old since Venus Williams did so in 2017, and will now bid to cap a tremendous year with victory over either Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Garcia – 21/17

Sakkari – 8/19

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Garcia – 6/1

Sakkari – 0/1

BREAK POINTS WON

Garcia – 4/5

Sakkari – 1/3 

Caroline Garcia came out on top in an almighty battle with Daria Kasatkina to complete the WTA Finals semi-final line-up on Saturday.

The winner of the Tracy Austin Group match in Fort Worth knew they would face Maria Sakkari in the last four and it was world number six Garcia who got the job done.

Frenchwoman Garcia won 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-5) in a topsy-turvy contest that was finally settled in two hours and 27 minutes.

Kasatkina won four games in a row to take the opening set, but sixth seed Garcia stormed back to level the match in emphatic fashion as her aggressive approach paid off.

Russian Kasatkina twice came from a break down in a tense decider and fended off six break points in the ninth game of the final set to hold for a 5-4 lead, but Garcia held her nerve in the tie-break to advance.

Garcia and Sakkari will do battle for a place in the final on Sunday, with the winner facing either Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Garcia- 42/48
Kasatkina - 16/26

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Garcia - 4/2
Kasatkina - 1/8

BREAK POINTS WON

Garcia - 6/14
Kasatkina - 5/7

Maria Sakkari had no issues in her last WTA Finals group stage match against Ons Jabeur, cruising through to the final-four with a 6-2 6-3 victory on Friday.

Sakkari needed only 69 minutes for the straight-sets win, making it her third straight-sets triumph in the Nancy Richey Group after also blowing past Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula.

Greece's Sakkari took advantage of some wastefulness from Jabeur, with the Tunisian posting 19 unforced errors with just eight errors. Her efficiency did not improve in the second set, managing only three winners with 12 unforced errors.

Sakkari's serve was a weapon throughout, landing 70 per cent of her first-serves fair and converting 82 per cent of those chances (27-of-33) into points.

Jabeur could have advanced through to the next round with a win, but instead Aryna Sabalenka will advance with Sakkari out of the Nancy Richey Group.

The only other player yet to lose a set in the tournament is Iga Swiatek in the Tracy Austin Group – who has only played two matches so far.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Sakkari - 11/10

Jabeur - 11/31

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Sakkari - 2/2

Jabeur - 0/3

BREAK POINTS WON

Sakkari - 4/7

Jabeur - 1/2

Maria Sakkari is yet to lose a set through two WTA Finals games, defeating Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 6-4 on Wednesday to advance through the Nancy Richey Group into the final-four.

The first set was relatively smooth sailing for the Greek, taking advantage of Sabalenka's errors to break twice.

Belarus' Sabalenka did create some chances herself, with two break opportunities compared to Sakkari's four, but could not take either. She also committed the only two double faults of the opening frame, and had 13 unforced errors with her seven winners, while Sakkari had an even four unforced errors and four winners.

The second set was more of the same, with Sabalenka committing 16 unforced errors with only eight winners as Sakkari collected an early double-break to go up 3-0, seemingly coasting to victory.

But Sabalenka fought back, winning the next four games in a row to briefly take the lead in the set. Unfortunately for her, the see-sawing contest saw Sakkari rattle off the next three games to close out the win.

Sabalenka is still a chance to advance to the next round after defeating Ons Jabeur in her opening fixture.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Sakkari - 15/16

Sabalenka - 15/29

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Sakkari - 1/1

Sabalenka - 0/4

BREAK POINTS WON

Sakkari - 5/7

Sabalenka - 2/7