Sakkari turns back the clock to knock out Swiatek in Doha quarterfinals

After an opening set in which Maria Sakkari absorbed the full brunt of Iga Swiatek’s dominance, it looked as if her own strong run in Doha was about to end.

Doha: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Instead, the former World No. 3 flipped the match on its head. She was the better player in the second and third sets, rallying to post a stunning 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over the current World No. 2 in just about two and a half and hours. The win sends Sakkari into the Doha semifinals for the third time in her career and the first time in three years.

It also marked her first win over Swiatek in five years, snapping a four-match losing streak in their WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz head-to-head. With Thursday’s result, the series is now level at 4-4.

“I’m speechless because it’s been a while since I had a big win like today,” Sakkari said in her on-court interview. “When you drop in the rankings and you’re not playing good tennis, you start doubting yourself. And you’re thinking that you’re never going to beat those players again.

“So it’s a huge process that you have to go through in your head, that you know you can do it. Last year in the second round here against (Swiatek), I was not confident. I was not believing in myself. And this year, it’s different. I feel quite a lot better.”

It’s her first win over a Top 5 player since she defeated Coco Gauff in Miami 2024. More importantly, it extends a week in which Sakkari has seemingly rediscovered the level that once carried her into and kept her inside the Top 10 for the better part of three years.

She opened the tournament with three consecutive straight-set victories over Zeynep Sonmez, No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini and Varvara Gracheva en route to the quarterfinals before toppling Swiatek. In doing so, she dethroned the Doha queen, handing Swiatek just her third loss in 21 matches at the event in a thrilling bit of theater that unfolded over the course of three acts (or sets).

Act 1: Same old Iga

As is often the case when Swiatek steps on court, she entered as a heavy favorite. She had beaten Sakkari four straight time -- all in straight sets -- and was coming off a Round of 16 win in which she shook off a slow start against Daria Kasatkina before dominating the final two sets, dropping just two games between them.

She continued that momentum into Thursday’s opening set. After breaking for a 3-2 lead with a forehand winner, she reeled off four straight games to take the set in just 33 minutes. It was the result of quintessential Swiatek efficiency: she won 13 of 14 first-serve points, claimed nearly half the points on return and converted both break points she earned.

Act 2: Sakkari strikes back

But Sakkari refused to fold. She surged ahead 3-0 lead and then 4-1 in the second set, leaning heavily on her backhand, a weapon that would serve her well again later.

Swiatek responded by winning three straight games, punctuated with a hold to love to level at 4-all. She then earned two break points that, if converted, would’ve allowed her to serve for the match, but Sakkari saved both. She cemented the hold with a forehand winner followed by an on-target body serve on game point.

Sakkari then broke Swiatek with ease in the next game to take the second set and force a decider, marking the first time the pair had ever gone the distance in eight meetings.

Act 3: Return of Sakkari

The final set delivered the evening’s peak drama. After Swiatek recovered from 0-30 to hold for 1-1, Sakkari struck first two games later, breaking for a 3-1 lead. It sparked a run of three straight breaks before Sakkari became the first to consolidate, racing ahead 5-2 to move within a game of victory.

She opened the game with a forehand winner, but Swiatek again applied pressure, earning two break points. Sakkari saved the second with a brilliant backhand pass, her first point won on second serve in the decider after starting 0-for- 5.

Swiatek mounted one last push -- identical to the one she made in the second set -- winning three straight games. She held for 5-3, then broke Sakkari as she was serving for the match in a game that featured a tense video review regarding a possible double bounce. The call eventually went Sakkari’s way, but Swiatek secured the break a few points later anyway. She then saved a match point with her best serve of the match, an ace out wide, and held once more to level at 5-5.

But as she had proven throughout the match, and the entire week in Doha, Sakkari was determined. She stopped the Swiatek run dead in its tracks with a hold to love for 6-5, then converted her third match point when Swiatek missed a brutal volley at the net, sealing one of the biggest wins of her career.

With the victory, Sakkari became the first player to defeat Swiatek in a WTA 1000 match after losing the opening set, dropping Swiatek’s record in such matches to 109-1. She also reached her 11th career WTA 100 semifinal, and her first since she reached the final at Indian Wells in 2024. It’s her first tour-level semifinal of any kind since Charleston 2024.

She’ll face either No. 14 seed Karolina Muchova or Anna Kalinskaya for a spot in her first final in two years -- the last coming at Indian Wells. Sakkari is 0-4 against Muchova at the WTA level, though she does own a win over the Czech from an ITF event in Sharm El Sheikh in 2016. She has won her only previous meeting with Kalinskaya, in Moscow 2021.