Iga Swiatek moves past Sloane Stephens in Dubai opener

Iga Swiatek got off to a winning start at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-4 second-round win over American Sloane Stephens.

The 22-year-old Iga Swiatek, who recorded four wins to capture the Qatar TotalEnergies Open title last week, needed nearly 2 hours to extend her unbeaten run in the Middle East this year to five in her return to Dubai after a runner-up finish to Barbora Krejcikova in 2023.

The World No.1 Swiatek who will next face Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the round of 16 tomorrow broke Stephens’ serve for a fifth and final time to wrap up the win in 1 hour and 57 minutes.

With the win, Swiatek improved to 3-0 in her career against 2017 US Open champion Stephens, and has never lost a set in those matches. She came close in Tuesday’s affair, though, as she was down a break three times in the first set at 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3. But she won three straight games (and 12 of the last 14 points) to avoid dropping a set to Stephens for the first time.