Maria Sakkari defeats Iga Swiatek to reach Qatar Open semifinals

Greek tennis player Maria Sakkari, currently ranked 52nd in the world, advanced to the semifinals of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2026 in Doha. She defeated the world No. 2, Iga Swiatek, with a comeback victory of 2-1 (2-6, 6-4, 7-5) in a match lasting 2 hours and 31 minutes. This result marks Sakkari's first win over the Polish champion since 2021, ending a four-match losing streak where she had not won a single set. Although Swiatek dominated the first set 6-2, Sakkari improved her performance in the second set to win 6-4 after leading 4-1. In the decisive third set, Sakkari held a 5-2 lead and successfully utilized a challenge on a crucial break point to help secure the 7-5 win. This victory qualifies Sakkari for her first WTA 1000 semifinal since Indian Wells in March 2024. Earlier in the tournament, Sakkari had defeated Jasmine Paolini and Varvara Gracheva in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.