Jelena Ostapenko delivered a rout to end Iga Swiatek’s three-year tenure at the Qatar Open, beating the world No. 2 6-3, 6-1 in the semi-finals on Friday. Ranked 37th, the Latvian improved her perfect lifetime record against Swiatek to 5-0 and became the first player ever to beat the Polish star five times.
Swiatek, a three-time defending champion, came in on a 15-match winning streak in Doha and seeking to become the first player since 2011 to take the same WTA tournament four years in a row. But Ostapenko had other ideas, blasting 24 winners and making only 15 unforced errors to seal victory in only 70 minutes.
The 2017 Roland Garros champion has now reached her third WTA 1000 final — and first at this level since losing in Doha 2016 and Miami 2018.
She will meet Amanda Anisimova in Saturday’s final after the American defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-3 in the other semi.
“I had confidence that I could beat her because I know how to play against her,” Ostapenko said. “It feels like I coped with my emotions really well this week.”
