Swiatek’s Doha reign ended by Ostapenko in semis

DOHA: Three-time defending Qatar Open champion Iga Swiatek suffered a crushing 6-3, 6-1 defeat by Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-finals on Friday, her fifth loss in as many meetings with the mercurial Latvian.

Swiatek entered the semi-finals carrying a 15-match winning streak in Doha, having clinched the title in each of the last three editions. The five-time Grand Slam champion was looking to become the first player since 2011 - and just second this century - to win the same WTA tournament four years in a row but Ostapenko had other ideas.

Ostapenko, the 2017 Roland Garros champion, became the first player to defeat Swiatek on five occasions. The world number 37 fired 24 winners against just 15 unforced errors, brushing aside the second-ranked Pole after just 70 minutes of play.

Ostapenko is through to the third WTA 1000 final of her career and is searching for her first title at that level, having lost on her two previous attempts in Doha 2016 and Miami 2018. “I feel like this court has a special energy and it was always helping me. Everything started for me on this court (when I reached the final in 2016),” said Ostapenko, who will face Amanda Anisimova or Ekaterina Alexandrova in Saturday´s championship match.

“Today when I went on the court I was pretty confident that I could beat her because we played a lot of matches and I kind of know how to play against her. I was just focusing on myself and knew what I had to do. I´m really happy with the way I´m handling my emotions this week and I´m so happy to be in the final.”

A blistering start from Ostapenko saw the Latvian unleash a forehand winner to break Swiatek in the opening game of the contest and she surrendered just one point on her way to a 2-0 lead.

Ostapenko got her hands on three set points on the Swiatek serve at 5-3 and converted her third opportunity to scoop the first set in 35 minutes. The start of the second set followed a similar pattern to the first, with Ostapenko punishing Swiatek´s serve, and attacking any short ball that came her way.