Iga Swiatek turns over Coco Gauff in Dubai to clinch spot in final, will face Jessica Pegula or Barbora Krejcikova

Iga Swiatek breezed past Coco Gauff 6-4 6-2 to reach her first final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The 21-year-old continued her dominant form this month, after winning the Qatar Open where she dropped just five games last week.

This week, in Dubai, she has beat both Leylah Fernandez and Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets, before beating Gauff on Friday.

“Coco is a great player. I knew it was going to be tough,” Swiatek said after her victory.

“Especially after last year; we played five times, so it is always tough because you never know if you’re going to see something new or not. I just wanted to focus on myself and keep going.

“Yesterday, I had the day off because Karolína [Pliskova] retired, unfortunately, so I used that time to recover better and to enjoy the way I am playing because I really want to take a lot of confidence from that.

“And I am pretty happy that I can continue doing that. Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice match as well.”

Gauff started strongly, forcing Swiatek to drop more than two games in a match for the first time at the tournament, but it wasn’t enough because the world No. 1 took the first set by holding serve after 51 minutes.

Swiatek started the second set stronger, taking an early 4-0 lead, before the next four games were shared, which meant Swiatek booked a place in the final.

The Pole has now won all six of her meetings in straight sets against Gauff, including at last year’s WTA Finals and the 2022 French Open final.

Jessica Pegula and Barbora Krejcikova are in action in the second semi-final later on Friday.

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