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Iga Swiatek reached a significant WTA 1000 milestone and extended her incredible Qatar Open record with her win over Elena Rybakina on Thursday.
The defending champion earned an excellent 6-2, 7-5 victory over world No 7 Rybakina in the quarter-finals in Doha.
Swiatek broke the big-serving Kazakh twice en route to winning the opening set convincingly after just 32 minutes.
The world No 2 then found herself facing a 4-2 deficit in the second set, but she responded strongly by winning five of the last six games to seal an impressive win over the 2022 Wimbledon champion.
The Pole now holds a 5-3 record against Rybakina - who has often proved to be one of her toughest opponents - after she also won the pair's meeting at the United Cup last month.
In her on-court interview, Swiatek said: "Yeah, for sure I'm super happy, super proud of myself because playing against Elena is never easy.
"Beginning of second set, I felt like she increased her level, so I needed to do that too, to come back.
"And I'm really happy, you know, especially the last game that I was able to break Elena. Yeah, because with her serve, it's tough."
Swiatek, who is going for a fourth consecutive title at the Qatar Open, is now on a 15-match winning streak in Doha - a record at the event, which was first held in 2001.
The five-time Grand Slam champion's victory was her 100th win at WTA 1000 level from only 121 matches.
Tennis icon Serena Williams is the only player to reach the 100-win milestone at WTA 1000 tournaments in fewer matches - 115.
Swiatek is the second youngest woman after Caroline Wozniacki to earn 100 wins in WTA 1000 matches since the category of event was introduced in 2009.
Swiatek will face either Jelena Ostapenko or Ons Jabeur in the semi-finals in Doha on Friday. The 23-year-old analysed the challenges that come with facing both players.
"Well, for sure they have totally different game styles," she assessed. "You know, Jelena plays super fast sometimes, you can't see where the ball is gonna go, so it's tricky.
"And Ons, you know, she has a great touch, she's a pretty complete player with different game style than most of us.
"You need to be prepared for some tricky shots and yeah, for sure she has a huge motivation playing in front of you guys, but I have as well, so we'll see."
