 Cocoa Goff vs. Igor Shviantek is the first semi-final for the ladies event in Dubai for 2023, and both ladies are similar roads to get to the semi-finals. Goff entered the tournament as the number 5 seed, and would get a buy in the first round. In the second round she'd take on Sasnevic, who had just come off a 3 set epic in her first round, and this was no problem for Goff, winning in straight sets, 6 loves, 6-4. In the third round she was put up against the number 9 seed Rabakina, who had come off two very impressive wins, but unfortunately Rabakina had to withdraw due to a back injury handing Goff a walkover into the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final stage she would take on the unseeded Keys, who had taken out Azarenka and Garcia along the way, but Keys hit too many errors, and Goff would get the straight sets win 6-2-7-5 to make it into the semi-finals. Shviantek entered the tournament as the number 1 seed, and would get a buy in the first round. In the second round she'd take on Fernandez, who had had a very good first round, but unfortunately it was too much, and Shviantek would get through in straights 6-1-6-1. In the third round she'd take on the 14th seed Samsonova, who had battled past Medosa in the first round, and gotten a walkover in the second. But the walkover in the second didn't give Samsonova any hope, as Shviantek smoked her 6-1-6 love to get to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals Shviantek was supposed to play Pliskova, who was coming off a good win against Sakurai along the way, but unfortunately Pliskova got ill, and Shviantek continued her run, making it into the semi-finals with a walkover. These two players have played five times before, with Shviantek winning all five matches in straight sets, and they played four times last year, including the French Open Final, which Shviantek winning every match, super easy. If Goff's gonna win this one, she needs to serve well, and she needs to limit the errors. Even though she played well, or the score suggests she played well against Keys, Keys hit over 50 errors, Shviantek's not gonna give that many free points away, and Goff also hit 30 errors despite winning in straight sets, so she needs to limit the errors, and of course serve extremely well. If Shviantek's gonna win, she just needs to keep doing what she's doing. She's beaten everybody in the last couple of weeks, super easy, and she's not gonna be scared of Goff. She's beaten Goff super easy in their past matches too, so I'm a little worried for Goff in this one. This is gonna be an interesting match. We've seen this match so many times, and it's played out pretty much the same way every single time, and I think it's gonna do the same again. I think Shviantek's gonna get the win in straight sets. I hope the Goff makes it competitive, but I can't see Goff making it more competitive, because of that error-filled match she just played against Keys, so I'm gonna go with Shviantek in straight sets, but you tell me, who do you think is gonna win this match?