Jelena Ostapenko improved to 5-0 against No. 2 seeds Iga Swiatek with a 6-3, 6-1 semi-final route Friday against the three-time defending Qatar total energy open master.
Ostapenko stopped Swiatek’s 15-match winning line in Doha and advanced to its 17th WTA Tour final, her first at the WTA 1000 level since Miami 2018.
The 27-year-old Latvian has not lost a set all week and will meet another invisible player, the American Amanda Anisimova, in Saturday’s final. Anisimova, 23, advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Ostapenko’s decisive 70-minute victory equalized the smallest games that Poland’s Swiatek has won in a match since a 6-0, 6-2 loss in the UK in Birmingham 2019-to Ostapenko.
“I was pretty sure I would beat her, because we have played a lot of matches and I know how to play against her,” Ostapenko said during his interview at the court. “I focused more on myself and what I had to do. I am happy with how I handle my feelings this week.”
Ostapenko broke the five times the Grand Slam winner earns five times, with Swiatek who only won 48 percent (14 out of 29) of her first service points. Ostapenko dropped her only service game on a double error while led 4-0 in the second set.
“Of course, I prepared myself for the match, and I knew pretty much what to expect from her,” Ostapenko said afterwards. “I don’t know, sometimes I know where the ball comes, but sometimes I just go with my feelings and my instincts, so it helps me.”
Ostapenko, French Open Champ 2017, is looking for her first title since her victory in Linz, Austria, in February last year.
Ostapenko won its only previous meeting with Anisimova, a three-set in the second round of Doha 2022.
Anisimova saved nine out of 10 break points in 90-minute victory against Alexandrova to reach his second career WTA 1000 final. She lost in three sets to Jessica Pegula at the Canadian Open in August last year.
“I’ve put in a lot of work … and I think it really shows up here,” Anisimova said after her semi -final win. “I am happy with the results and the performances I could post here this week.
“Playing against so many tough competitors, getting all these matches under my belt has been really good.”
Anisimova is a twice WTA Tour winner and looks to be the first American champion in Doha since Monica Seles in 2002.
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