Jelena Ostapenko ends Iga Swiatek's reign in Doha

Jelena Ostapenko improved to 5-0 against No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek with a 6-3, 6-1 semifinal rout Friday against the three-time defending Qatar TotalEnergies Open champion.

Ostapenko halted Swiatek's 15-match winning streak in Doha and advanced to her 17th WTA Tour final, her first at the WTA 1000 level since Miami in 2018.

The 27-year-old Latvian has not dropped a set all week and will face another unseeded player, 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 equaled the fewest games Poland's Swiatek has won in a match since a 6-0, 6-2 loss in the United Kingdom in Birmingham in 2019 -- to Ostapenko.

"I was pretty confident that I would beat her, because we've played a lot of matches and I know how to play against her," Ostapenko said during her on-court interview. "I was more focusing on myself and what I had to do. I'm happy with the way I'm handling my emotions this week."

Ostapenko broke the five-time Grand Slam winner's serve five times, with Swiatek winning only 48 percent (14 of 29) of her first-service points. Ostapenko dropped her only service game on a double fault while leading 4-0 in the second set.

"Obviously I was preparing for the match, and I pretty much knew what to expect from her," Ostapenko said afterward. "I don't know, sometimes I know where the ball's coming, but sometimes I'm just going with my feelings and my instincts, so that helps me."

Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champ, is seeking her first title since her victory in Linz, Austria, last February.

Ostapenko won her only previous encounter with Anisimova, a three-setter in the second round at Doha in 2022.

Anisimova saved nine of 10 break points in the 90-minute win against Alexandrova to reach her second career WTA 1000 final. She lost in three sets to Jessica Pegula at the Canadian Open last August.

"I've been putting in a lot of work ... and I think it's really showing up here," Anisimova said after her semifinal win. "I'm happy with the results and the performances I was able to put out here this week.

"Playing against so many tough competitors, getting all of these matches under my belt, has been really great."

A two-time WTA Tour winner, Anisimova is looking to become the first American champion in Doha since Monica Seles in 2002.

--Field Level Media