(Tennis news) Anett Kontaveit put an end to Jelena Ostapenko’s 9 match winning streak in the semifinals of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open. Kontaveit has now reached 7 finals in the last 6 months and will face Iga Swiatek in the championship match. The Estonian will play her second career WTA 1000 final and her first one in 4 years. Kontaveit made the breakthrough early on in the match as she was carried forward by the Latvian’s 20 unforced errors to take the first set.

In the second set, the 26 year old began with a 3-0 lead as Ostapenko started her fightback with fiery winners from the forehand and backhand. The unforced errors came down and Kontaveit looked in trouble at 5-4 when saving two breakpoints in which one was a lucky net cord. In her second matchpoint, the world number 7 secured a straight set victory to advance to the final match. Kontaveit defeated Ostapenko 6-1, 6-4.

"She can outplay anyone, and then she might not find the consistency sometimes, so you have to be ready for that," Kontaveit added in the press conference. "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 broken. Sometimes when she's on fire, her returns are unplayable and it's just very difficult.

Iga Swiatek had never taken a set off Maria Sakkari in their previous three meetings, the pair had met a few months in the WTA finals where Sakkari only lost 6 games on her way to victory. This time not only the Polish player got her first victory over the 26 year old but also picked up a straight set win to reach the final stage at Doha. The 20 year old was down 1-3 but with constructive net play and strong backhands she outsmarted Sakkari who clearly was more powerful.

In the second set, the world number 8 managed to hit flat groundstrokes as the top seed could not bring out as much defense from the first set. Although Sakkari broke early in the match, there was no chance for taking a lead with Swiatek responding immediately and it was the 2020 Roland Garros winner who emerged victorious. Swiatek defeated Sakkari 6-4, 6-3.

"Really excited," Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. "For sure I showed consistency throughout the whole tournament, and I'm really happy that I could keep my level of tennis at a really high level."

Also read: Swiatek topples seed at Doha, Ostapenko extends winning streak