"She's so insane, what a title defense" - Tennis fans gush over Iga Swiatek winning Qatar Open in dominant fashion
World No.1 Iga Swiatek successfully defended her title at the Qatar Open on Saturday, February 18, defeating World No.4 Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-0 in the final.
Swiatek, the top seed, beat the second-seeded Pegula comfortably to win her first WTA title of the year and 12th overall. The 21-year-old Pole got over the finish line while dropping only five games all week.
Doha was also Swiatek's first title last year, which kicked off a historic 37-match winning streak that included her second Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros.
World #1 Iga Swiatek beats #4 Jess Pegula 6-3, 6-0 to defend her title in Doha.
She lost 5 (!) games in three matches on her way to the title.
R1 - bye
R2 - 6-0, 6-1
QF - walkover
SF - 6-0, 6-1
F - 6-3, 6-0
Ridiculous.
Several tennis fans took to Twitter to celebrate Iga Swiatek's victory over Jessica Pegula. One user stated that Swiatek's defeat to Pegula in the 2023 United Cup triggered something in her and inspired her to come back stronger.
"She was laser focused and on a mission. When she loses it clearly triggers something in her and she comes back stronger with a vendetta. It’s great to see," the user wrote.
@josemorgado She was laser focused and on a mission. When she loses it clearly triggers something in her and she comes back stronger with a vendetta. It’s great to see.
Another user thought that losing in the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open to Elena Rybakina drove the three-time Grand Slam winner "mad," and predicted that she would win 90% of her matches this year.
"Losing in Aussie Open made her mad, she’s gonna win 90% of her games this year!" the user tweeted.
@josemorgado Losing in Aussie Open made her mad, she’s gonna win 90% of her games this year!
Another account stated that Iga Swiatek is the future GOAT, writing:
"AND THAT'S FUTURE GOAT!"
AND THAT'S FUTURE GOAT! twitter.com/josemorgado/st…
Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans:
Iga Swiatek spent exactly 3 hours on court *all week* en route to winning the title in Doha
For reference... https://t.co/T9SRwG1vfu
Iga Swiatek’s Last 4 matches in Doha
6-2 6-0 vs Kontaveit (2022 1000 Final)
6-0 6-1 vs Collins
6-0 6-1 vs Kudermetova
6-3 6-0 vs Pegula
3 Majors, 5 1000s, & 4 500s have been won for Iga and she’s still more than 3 months away from turning 22
We can confirm Iga adopted that bird. We need to know the name now. twitter.com/SwiatekOOC/sta…
Back-to-back titles in Doha ✅
Iga defeats Pegula 6-3 6-🍩
to claim the first title of the year 🏆
The No. 1 is back! 🇵🇱
#JazdaIga #TeamSwiatek https://t.co/7mu08eXEWs
what a title defence
she’s so insane 😭 what a title defence https://t.co/5DkEl3ugt2
@josemorgado That was nasty. Pegula had no answers. When Iga is firing on all cylinders, she exposes the gap in talent between her and the rest of the top women.
@josemorgado Iga. Man, when she’s on she’s on another planet. And owning the crazy wind just made it all the more dazzling.
@josemorgado Not even enough games from her opponents to win a set 🤯
Just bagel after bagel. Iga being mean again. twitter.com/josemorgado/st…
"I'm focusing on smaller things that are kind of making me happy every day" - Iga Swiatek on coping with the pressure of being World No. 1
During her press conference after the Doha semis, Iga Swiatek was asked how she handles the pressure of being the World No. 1 tennis player and the expectations that come with it.
The 21-year-old admitted that she has moments when she feels like she can't bear the pressure. She went on to state that she tries to focus on the smaller things that make her "happy" every day, which she believes helps to a great extent
"Well, on one hand, like tricking your brain is always going to be tough, so you have to kind of accept that these thoughts are going to come. It's not easy. For sure I have moments where it feels like impossible to kind of fight it, you know," Swiatek said.
"So I'm just trying to, I don't know, accept that and focus on other stuff and not really overthink everything and just remember that I want to, yeah, as I said earlier, feel free on court. I'm just, I don't know, not wasting my time fighting about it. It's more like I'm focusing on different stuff and on smaller things that are kind of making me happy every day, yeah," she added.
Swiatek's remarkable run at the Qatar Open set a new record for the lowest number of games dropped in a WTA title run.