Veronika Kudermetova has earned her third chance to record her first victory over Iga Swiatek as the players are set to face each other in the semifinals of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open.
The world No.1 Swiatek, defending champion this week in Doha, had an extremely easy route to the semifinals. After a first-round bye, the Pole wasted just 53 minutes to dispatch Danielle Collins and then received a walkover into the quarterfinals as freshly-crowned Abu Dhabi champion Belinda Bencic pulled out following her exhausting second-round match against Victoria Azarenka.