Iga Swiatek finds her rhythm with bagels and balance in dominant Doha showing ahead of Dubai

If Iga Swiatek looked like she had come back to the pack a little in Australia earlier this year, the last five days in Doha might suggest otherwise.

At the tournament where her 37-match winning streak started last year, Swiatek won the Qatar Open for the loss of just FIVE games.

She won three sets 6-0, including in the final against world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, and spent just THREE hours on court across her three matches.

That’s:

This was another statement showing from Swiatek. A reset-the-table week after her losses to Pegula and Elena Rybakina in Australia. A ‘I’m ready to go again’ week as she prepares for a string of back-to-back title defences over the next few months.

Just a month ago Swiatek was in tears after losing to Pegula in straight sets at the United Cup. But in blustery conditions in Doha she looked in the zone again. Her footwork was impressive, so was her clean hitting, her serving, and her returning. From the start she looked dialled in and focused, dropping just four points in the opening set of her first match against Danielle Collins.

These are clearly conditions that Swiatek, who has now won 26 bagel sets since the start of 2022, enjoys, and in the final she turned the tables emphatically on Pegula with a 6-3 6-0 victory.

"I'm really happy that I could kind of find more balance, comparing to how I felt at the beginning of the season," said Swiatek after the win.

"I think this tournament is going to give me a lot of confidence, but still, I want to take everything step by step. I'm just really happy that I could win this match today.

"Every game I was really focused, and that's the thing I'm most happy about because at the beginning of the season, I felt like my mind was kind of flying away sometimes."

If after the Australian Open it appeared Swiatek’s place at the top of the women’s game could be under threat, this was a timely reminder of the peak level of the world No. 1.

Whether it's the start of another lengthy winning streak might be clearer after the first WTA 1000 of the season in Dubai this week.

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka makes her return after winning her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, where she struck the ball ferociously and showed composure that has sometimes eluded her in the past. Also in action is Australian Open runner-up Rybakina, who hit Swiatek off the court when they met in the last 16 in Melbourne.

If either can record a second straight win over Swiatek it would be notable - and perhaps a sign of a potential rivalry forming, which would be a boon for the WTA Tour. Rybakina is on Swiatek's half of the draw in Dubai along with Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia, both of whom have beaten the world No. 1 in the past. Sabalenka can't meet Swiatek until the final.

The next months are fascinating for Swiatek. In 2022 she compiled one of the best-ever seasons on the WTA Tour and dominated in a style arguably not seen since Serena Williams’ peak. But even Williams didn’t win 37 matches in a row. Her best winning streak was 34 in 2013, when she lost just four matches all season and won 11 titles, including two Grand Slams and the WTA Finals. The following year Williams only defended two of the titles she won during the 34-match winning run and lost early in the first three Grand Slams.

With the number of points she has to defend until Wimbledon the pressure is clearly on Swiatek, who said in Australia that being such a big favourite did impact her. But in Doha she didn't look weighed down, playing freely and making shots that few others on tour could make right now.

“I knew what I did wrong [at the] Australian Open and over my whole stay in Australia,” said Swiatek last week. “I really wanted to kind of focus on getting my expectations lower and not expect from myself that I’m going to right now, play perfectly all the time.”

Even if she's not perfect, Swiatek looks like she could be very tough to stop again.