Six months on from their titanic battle in Cincinnati last year, Mirra Andreeva and Iga Swiatek tussle at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday, seeking to advance to the WTA 1000 semi-final.
Their previous encounter, also a quarter-final contest, lasted two hours and 30 minutes, with Swiatek completing a turnaround against the 17-year-old, who aims to overcome possible weariness from playing twice on Wednesday to get the better of the 22-time champion.
Match preview
A year after suffering first-round elimination in her maiden Dubai appearance, losing to Peyton Stearns in three sets, Andreeva got her revenge on Wednesday, securing a 6-1, 6-1 success over the American to advance to the tournament's last eight.
It was the teenager who coped better with playing twice in one day, having eliminated 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in a second-round match that could not be held on Tuesday after a rain-interrupted day.
Having needed one hour 56 minutes to beat Ons Jabeur in Monday's round-one match, a two-hour 36-minute three-setter against top-10 opponent Qinwen Zheng earlier on Wednesday meant Stearns was fighting a losing battle.
Andreeva took advantage, breaking her opponent's serve six times and losing hers once to dispatch the American player and set up a mouthwatering contest with Swiatek.
The upshot of Wednesday's victories means the 17-year-old has improved to 10-3 for the season before facing the Pole, thus responding commendably to last week's second-round exit to Rebecca Sramkova in Doha.
Next in line, Swiatek hopes to exploit any tiredness in her teenage opponent to advance to consecutive WTA 1000 semi-finals after reaching the last four at the Qatar Open.
Although she suffered a chastening defeat at the hands of Jelena Ostapenko — which ended the Pole's 15-match winning run and the 22-time tour champion's four-peat prospects — the 23-year-old should take confidence from beating another hard-hitting opponent — Dayana Yastremska — on Wednesday in one hour and 32 minutes.
The Ukrainian had Swiatek on the ropes for much of the first set, firing a staggering 16 winners to the second seed's two, but the world No. 48 could not sustain that level and fell 7-5, 6-0.
That success was Swiatek's 14th of the season, with three of her defeats this year coming against Coco Gauff in the United Cup final, Madison Keys in Australia and Ostapenko in Doha, with the most recent two preventing the 23-year-old from notching a 23rd title on the women's tour.
With the world No. 2 without a title since clinching a third consecutive Roland Garros crown and fourth overall, she hopes to take advantage of being the only top-five player left in the draw after Aryna Sabalenka's third-round exit, off-form Gauff's round-two elimination, the defending champion Jasmine Paolini unable to shake off an injury against Sofia Kenin on Wednesday and Jessica Pegula exiting on the same day to Linda Noskova.
While a last-four match-up with Elena Rybakina could follow on Friday — the sixth seed faces Kenin in the last eight — Swiatek will be wary of thinking too far ahead due to Andreeva's undoubted threat.
Tournament so far
Mirra Andreeva:
First round: vs. Elina Avanesyan 6-2 6-1
Second round: vs. Marketa Vondrousova 7-5 6-0
Third round: vs. Peyton Stearns 6-1 6-1
Iga Swiatek:
First round: Bye
Second round: vs. Victoria Azarenka 6-0 6-2
Third round: vs. Dayana Yastremska 7-5 6-0
Head To Head
Cincinnati (2024) - Quarter-finals: Swiatek 4-6 6-3 7-5
While Swiatek secured the win in Cincinnati in August last year, the Polish superstar needed to battle from a set down to notch that victory against Andreeva, advancing to the semis in Cincy.
That defeat ended the teenager's two-match winning run against top-10 opponents — she had won four of five match-ups against such players before the Cincinnati disappointment — but that loss began a four-match losing streak against the elite group.
It will be fascinating to see if the 17-year-old ends that ongoing series of defeats against a player who enters Thursday's quarter-final with a 25-2 record against players outside the top 10 post-Wimbledon last year — both losses were to Keys at Melbourne Park and Ostapenko in Doha.
We say: Swiatek to win in three sets
Despite playing twice on Wednesday, it remains to be seen how affected Andreeva is by playing three times in two days, even if the teenager was hardly stretched in her round-two and third-round victories.
Nevertheless, we back a fresher Swiatek to notch a second victory over the 17-year-old and record her 26th victory in 28 against players outside the top 10 to advance to a second WTA 1000 semi-final this season.
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