Iga Swiatek landed the top seeding in her sixth Doha appearance as the 24-year-old has learned her possible path to the fourth Qatar Open title.
Earlier this week, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka pulled out of the opening WTA 1000 tournament of the year. That automatically meant that the Polish tennis star would be the No. 1 seed in Qatar.
After a first-round bye, Swiatek will take on the winner of the match between rising star Janice Tjen and Romanian veteran Sorana Cirstea, while the Pole's first-seeded rival in Doha should be No. 16 seed Elise Mertens in the round-of-16.
The projected Qatar Open quarterfinal action should bring a rematch of the 2024 French Open final between Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini. Should the top seed reach the semis in Qatar, we could easily see a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final, in which the Pole defeated Amanda Anisimova.
The projected final sees the Polish former world No. 1 taking on No. 2 seed and reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina.
After losing to Rybakina at the Australian Open, Swiatek cannot meet the Kazakh in Doha earlier than the final
Swiatek's run at this past Australian Open ended with a 5-7 1-6 quarterfinal defeat to Rybakina. After registering just 10 winners, spraying 25 unforced errors and lost her serve four times, the Pole acknowledged that she would have to address certain stuff.
"I have some stuff I want to work on. It’s never been so flawless for me playing on these courts, as they’re fast. I guess I’ll try next time anyways," the six-time Grand Slam champion said following her Australian Open exit.
For the Pole, Doha has been a happy hunting ground as the 24-year-old pulled off a three-peat at the Qatar Open between 2022 and 2024. Last year, the former world No. 1 picked up her first loss in Qatar since 2021 after being upset by Jelena Ostapenko in the semifinal.
It remains to be seen if Swiatek can win her fourth Doha title this year.
