MY ACCOUNT
Anett Kontaveit defeated Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets, while Iga Swiatek overcame Maria Sakkari to secure her place in the Qatar Ladies Open final.
Swiatek advanced to the Doha showpiece for the first time after managing her first win over Sakkari in four attempts with a 6-4 6-3 triumph on Friday.
The Pole was in imperious form as she delivered 20 winners to overcome sixth seed Sakkari in an hour and 28 minutes, collecting her seventh top-10 win and second straight such win after defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals.
The seventh seed will now meet Kontaveit, who continued her impressive streak with a 6-1 6-4 win over Ostapenko in just 68 minutes.
Ostapenko headed into the clash on a career-best nine-match winning run, but succumbed to her fourth loss in five meetings with the fourth seed in Qatar.
Ostapenko did have back-to-back break points at 5-5 in the final set, but Kontaveit managed to hold on for victory.
“She can outplay anyone, and then she might not find the consistency sometimes, so you have to be ready for that,” Kontaveit said of Ostapenko.
“I was trying to play a consistent match and just do my best on my serve and hold on to it, especially in the second set when I was a break up.
“Sometimes when she’s on fire, her returns are unplayable and it’s just very difficult.
“But I kept repeating to myself, ‘I’m really good at serving it out, I’m really good at serving it out,’ and eventually managed to do that.
“How you approach the match, how you’re approaching the service games, I think if you’re trying to be aggressive […] that has a lot of effect on the serve.”
It will be the seventh final that Kontaveit has contested since last August, converting those appearances into five titles so far. Kontaveit and Swiatek share a pair of wins apiece in previous clashes.
