Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys win in Dubai, Elena Rybakina and Karolina Pliskova withdraw

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka remain on course to meet in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after coming through their last-16 matches in contrasting fashion.

World No. 1 Swiatek recorded another dominant win as she beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-1 6-0 – and then got a bye into the semi-finals as Karolina Pliskova withdrew from the tournament due to illness.

Sabalenka came from a set down to beat defending champion Jelena Ostapenko 2-6 6-1 6-1.

Australian Open champion Sabalenka has now won all 13 matches she has played this season, and won her most recent meeting against Swiatek at the 2022 WTA Finals.

Sabalenka, who next faces Barbora Krejcikova, said the key to her comeback against Ostapenko was problem solving.

“In the first set, she played unbelievable tennis and I couldn’t do anything,” said the world No. 2, who hit 25 winners and 17 unforced errors.

“I was looking at my team asking like, ‘What can I do?’ but somehow, I turned around this game, and started playing really incredible tennis.

“She plays really fast, deep balls, and I tried to stay super low, stay focused, and try to put more balls [in] than she did. I’m so happy that I did it.”

Samsonova pushed Swiatek to three sets in their only previous meeting in Stuttgart last year, but was swept aside in comprehensive fashion this time out.

Swiatek finished the match with 18 winners to just six unforced errors, and didn’t face a break point.

Swiatek, who has dropped just eight games in her last five matches, next faces either Madison Keys or Coco Gauff.

Gauff advanced after Australian Open runner-up Elena Rybakina withdrew from their scheduled match due to a lower back injury.

Keys booked her spot in the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-1 win over two-time Grand Slam champion seed Victoria Azarenka.

Keys took just 57 minutes to secure her first victory over Azarenka at the fifth attempt.