The Japan Times - Swiatek, Rybakina fight back to reach Qatar Open quarter-finals

The world number two recovered to beat Russian-born Australian Kasatkina 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 and set up a tie with Greece's Maria Sakkari.

Swiatek, who won the WTA 1000 tournament in 2022, 2023 and 2024, had breezed through her last six meetings with Kasatkina without dropping a set but blew a 5-3 lead to lose the opener.

The six-time Grand Slam champion quickly regrouped, though, racing through the next two sets with six breaks of serve.

"It wasn't an easy match," said Swiatek. "She used the slower surface here and she was going for it more compared to (our) last matches.

"But you never know if it was her just doing that from the beginning, or me giving her more chances.

"But for sure I felt like I could do sometimes more in the first set."

Swiatek remains on course for a possible rematch with Australian Open champion Rybakina in the final after the Kazakh's win in their quarter-final clash at Melbourne Park last month.

- Rybakina downs Zheng -

Rybakina also had to battle back to defeat China's Zheng Qinwen 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 and end the former world number four's first tournament of the year.

Zheng, the 2024 Australian Open runner-up, was playing only her second event since undergoing elbow surgery last July but proved her fitness with three-set wins over Sofia Kenin and Alycia Parks in the previous two rounds.

She produced an excellent first set, losing just four points on serve and taking it with a single break in the fifth game.

But Rybakina was much improved in the second, breaking serve twice to force a decider.

The world number three continued her momentum into the third set, racing into a 5-2 lead.

Rybakina, without a WTA 1000 title since the 2023 Italian Open, missed a match point in the next game and was then broken while serving for the match.

But Zheng faltered from 40-0 up when serving to push the set into a tie-break, allowing Rybakina to secure a Thursday quarter-final against Victoria Mboko with a rasping backhand.

Canada's Mboko won the battle of the teenagers by saving a match point to knock out fifth seed Mirra Andreeva in a deciding-set tie-break.

The 19-year-old Mboko saved the match point on the Andreeva serve late in the third set before sealing a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) success.

"I feel like I came out with some very clutch shots at the end," said Mboko.

"I think we both were pretty tired when it came to the tie-break. I think I felt like I was lucky enough to have some good shots in the great moments."

Jelena Ostapenko, last year's runner-up, saw off Colombian Camila Osorio 6-3, 6-1 to set up a last-eight tie with Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

Italian lucky loser Cocciaretto backed up her second-round win over Coco Gauff by beating Ann Li 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-4.

Czech Karolina Muchova also reached the quarters when compatriot and former world number one Karolina Pliskova retired injured from their last-16 match when trailing 5-2 in the first set.

Sakkari defeated France's Varvara Gracheva 7-6 (7/3), 6-0 in the opening tie of the day.

S.Ogawa--JT