Iga Swiatek maintained her ruthless run at the Australian Open after sealing her semi-final spot in style on Wednesday.
The five-time Grand Slam champion swept aside eighth seed Emma Navarro 6-1, 6-2 at the Rod Laver Arena to set-up a semi-final clash with Madison Keys.
Swiatek has been in sensational form at Melbourne Park, dropping just 14 games with seven of those coming in her first-round win over Katerina Siniakova.
“Madison is a great player and experienced so you never know,” Swiatek, who is looking to lift the Melbourne crown for the first time, said of her last-four opponent.
“It will be tricky, I will just be focused on myself. She has already played a good tournament here and we are well aware of how she can play.”
There was some controversy in her latest victory, though, when officials failed to spot a double bounce in front of a stretching Swiatak with the score at 2-2 in the second set.
Navarro requested the chair umpire use VAR to check what happened but was turned down after waiting until the end of the point, rather than stopping play and asking right away.
“It happened so fast,” Navarro said. “You hit the shot, and she hits it back, and you're just, like, 'Oh, I guess I'm playing'.
“It's tough. I think we should be able to see it afterwards and make that call.”
Keys, meanwhile, stormed back from a set down to beat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in their quarter-final.
The American, who will be 30 next month, leads the WTA Tour with 12 wins this season and is on a 10-match unbeaten streak after lifting the Adelaide title.
The 19th seed is fully aware of the challenge ahead of her, though, if she wants to seal a spot in the final on her third attempt, having also reached the semis in 2015 and 2022.
“Iga is tough to beat because she has a lot of spin kind of naturally on both sides. She is a good server. She's a good returner. She moves incredibly well,” Keys said.
“There is just such a balance of being aggressive and trying to get her to move and going for things, but not pressing too hard and not going for anything too quickly.”
Two-time defending champion and world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka plays Spain's 11th seed Paula Badosa in the other semi-final.
Another defending champion and world No 1 is looking in ominous form in the men's draw.
Jannik Sinner made short work of home hope Alex de Minaur with the Italian powering to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory.
He will meet American Ben Shelton for a place in Sunday's final against either 10-time champion Novak Djokovic or second seed Alexander Zverev.
“I feel like today I was feeling everything,” said Sinner, who showed no signs of the illness that hampered his win over Holger Rune in the last round.
“When you break so early in each set it's a bit easier. But he's a tough competitor, an amazing player. So many people came here for him tonight, but it was an amazing atmosphere.
“We know each other quite well. We played so many times, we know each other's game so we try to prepare in the best possible way. These matches can go quickly, but things can change fast.”
On his last-four opponent, Sinner added: “Last year we played some very tough matches.
“Obviously he's one of the best servers on tour, he's a lefty and all different rotation on the ball is coming.
“Hopefully I'm ready and I can return as many serves as possible, and then trying to stay very concentrated about my game like today and staying aggressive. We will see.”
Shelton, seeded 21, battled past unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego, 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 to make the Melbourne Park last four for the first time.
“I feel so relieved right now,” the 22-year-old said after a quarter-final that lasted three hours and 50 minutes “Shout-out to Lorenzo because that was some ridiculous tennis.”
if you go
The flights
Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.
The tour
Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
Star%20Wars%3A%20Ahsoka%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Various%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rosario%20Dawson%2C%20Natasha%20Liu%20Bordizzo%2C%20Lars%20Mikkelsen%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
DAY%20ONE%20RESULT
%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3E1.%20Charlotte%20Kool%20(NED)%20%E2%80%93%20Team%20DSM%3A%202hrs%2C%2047min%2C%2014sec%3Cbr%3E2.%20Lorena%20Wiebes%20(NED)%20%E2%80%93%20Team%20SD%20Worx%3A%20%2B4%20secs%3Cbr%3E3.%20Chiara%20Consonni%20(ITA)%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20Team%20ADQ%3A%20%2B5%20secs%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Fixtures
Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs
Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms
Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles
Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon
Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon
Britain's travel restrictions
- A negative test 2 days before flying
- Complete passenger locator form
- Book a post-arrival PCR test
- Double-vaccinated must self-isolate
- 11 countries on red list quarantine
