World No 1 Iga Swiatek has learned her projected path to the Dubai title. Swiatek, seeded at No 1, will have a first-round bye in Dubai. After a first-round bye, Swiatek will very likely play 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez in the second round.
In the round-of-16, Swiatek could meet former world No 2 Paula Badosa or recent Abu Dhabi runner-up Liudmila Samsonova. In the quarterfinal, Swiatek could meet sixth-seeded Maria Sakkari or former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova.
In the semifinal, Swiatek could potentially meet Elena Rybakina, Cori Gauff or Caroline Garcia. Should Swiatek reach the final, she would likely play either Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula or Belinda Bencic.
Full @DDFTennis draw pic.twitter.com/rJlohmk6EH — Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) February 18, 2023
Swiatek aiming to win her first Dubai title.
Swiatek, 21, picked up back-to-back Dubai round-of-16 losses in 2021 and 2022.
Now, Swiatek will try to make a much deeper run and lift her first Dubai title. After a disappointing Australian Open round-of-16 loss, Swiatek took some time to “reset.” Since then, Swiatek has been trying to be more chill and act more relaxed.
“Well, I don’t know about confidence, but for sure I feel like I’m more free here. I really used the time after Australian Open to reset and I’m trying to take a new approach with less expectations and more like focusing on the technique and less, I don’t know, overthinking that every practice is going to influence my game.
I’m just kind of trying to chill down off the court as well so I can have more freedom on court. And for sure here I felt that, yeah,” Swiatek said in Doha. In Dubai, Swiatek is certainly the No 1 favorite for the title. However, the Dubai event is featuring several top players and Swiatek definitely won’t have an easy job of winning it all in Dubai. It remains to be seen if this is the year Swiatek wins her first Dubai title.
