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February 22, 2023

Swiatek defeats Pegula to retain Qatar Open title

World No.1 Iga Swiatek successfully defended her title at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open on Saturday, sweeping past fourth-ranked Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-0 in the Doha final.

No.1 seed Swiatek topped No.2 seed Pegula to capture her first Hologic WTA Tour title of the year, and the 12th title of her career overall. Swiatek dropped only five games all week en route to the title.

“I’m really happy that I could kind of find more balance comparing to how I felt at the beginning of the season,” Swiatek said, after her win. “I think this tournament is going to give me a lot of confidence, but still, I want to take everything step by step. I’m just really happy that I could win this match today.”

Swiatek had already lost to Pegula this year at United Cup, but the No.1 seed overwhelmingly avenged that defeat in the 1-hour and 9-minute Doha final. Swiatek now holds a 5-2 lead over Pegula in their head-to-head.

On the other hand, the all-American duo of Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, the tournament top-seeds, successfully defended their title after defeating Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the second-seeded pair, at the end of an electrifying final match at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex on Friday.

Pegula and Gauff overcame their opponents 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 in 1 hour and 20 minutes to lift the champions’ trophy in front of an excited crowd at the center court of the ultra-modern complex.

With their feat on Friday, Pegula and Gauff became the eighth member of the exclusive list of two-time doubles winners, who have either won with the same or different partners in Doha.

“We are extremely delighted with the victory, and we are happy to have successfully defended our title. It’s been an amazing week of great tennis, and we are proud to be leaving Qatar as champions once again. I would like to thank our fans and everyone for their support,” Gauff said during her post-match interview.