Tennis Emcee. Andy Taylor. Qatar Total Open 2018 | Qatar Tennis Federation
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Tennis Emcee Andy Taylor recaps Ostapenko and Dabrowski’s Semifinal victory
Ostapenko and Dabrowski -def- Krejcikova and Siniakova 63 63
Impressive stuff. Jelena Ostapenko has made the journey to Doha twice. 2-years-ago, at just 18-years-old, she won five consecutive matches – including a win over World #8 Petra Kvitova – to reach her first Premier-5 Final. Since then, she won the French Open and climbed to a career-high ranking of World #6. Tomorrow, in just her second Qatar Total Open, Jelena will compete in her second Doha Final, this time in doubles with partner Gabriela Dabrowski.
Gabriela has lost only three doubles matches this year. Week-2 of the season, she and Yifan Xu captured their third title together in Sydney. Gabriela then won her second Grand Slam Mixed Doubles title at the Australian Open, before a Semifinal run in St. Petersburg. With the victory today, Dabrowski will compete in her 11th career WTA Doubles Final, in just her fourth event partnering with Ostapenko.
The Semifinal. The strongest serve prevailed
Today’s match included nine breaks of serve. Seriously.
Katerina Siniakova dropped serve three times, including the loss that gave Jelena Ostapenko a chance to serve-out the first set.
Her partner, Barbora Krejcikova was also broken three times. The first break in set-2 was a crushing blow that gave Jelena and Gabriela the edge. Four games later, Krejcikova was broken again, ending the match. In her defense, during the previous game, Barbora played remarkable defense to break Dabrowski and keep the match alive.
Gabriela lost her serve twice, but thanks to Ostapenko’s four decisive holds (just a single break), the Latvian-Canadian combo secured a spot in their first championship match together.
Jelena Ostapenko and Gabriela Dabrowski’s road to the Final:
- SF def Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 63 63
- QF def Kateryna Bondarenko and Aleksandra Krunic 63 64
- R2 def [3] Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova 30 ret
- R1 def Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke 46 61 10-8
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Jelena Ostapenko and Gabriela Dabrowski
In just their fourth event together on Tour, this tandem is through to their first Semifinal as a team…
Two-years-ago, at just 18-years-old and ranked #88 in the World, she reached the Singles Final in her Doha debut. A year later, she became a Grand Slam Singles champion, defeating Simona Halep to win the 2017 title at Roland Garros. Remarkably, she was a 5-time Singles Finalist last year, and won her first two WTA Doubles titles with two different partners. Competing in her 2nd Qatar Total Open, from Latvia – Please welcome 2016 Qatar Total Open Singles Finalist, Jelena Ostapenko
At 25-years-old, this 2-time Grand Slam champion won her 6th WTA Doubles title last month at the season-opener in Shezhen; then won her second Major Mixed Doubles title at the Australian Open. Last year, she qualified in doubles for the WTA Finals Singapore for the first time; and comes into tonight’s Semifinal match with a career-high ranking of #11 in the World. Through to the Doha Doubles Semifinal for the second time, from Canada – Please welcome Gabriela Dabrowski
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova
These Grand Slam Semifinalists have been playing together since they were Juniors, and in 2013 – won the junior doubles titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. They then won two titles on the ITF Women’s Doubles Circuit before reaching their first Major Semifinal at the 2016 French Open. And last month, reached their first Tour-level Final together, at the season-opening event in Shenzhen.
This 22-year-old won her first WTA Doubles title 3-years-ago in Quebec City, and is now a 5-time Doubles Finalist on Tour. Last year, she reached her first WTA Singles Final in Nurnberg, and by August climbed to a career-high ranking. Through to the Qatar Total Open Semifinals for the first time. From the Czech Republic – Please welcome, Barbora Krejcikova
At 21-years-old, she is a Grand Slam Finalist. Last September, she and Lucie Hradecka reached the championship at the 2017 US Open. Remarkably, it was their fourth Final final of the year. An 8-time Finalist on Tour, she owns 2 WTA Doubles titles – and won her first two career singles titles last year in Shezhen and Bastad. Also from the Czech Republic – Please welcome, Katerina Siniakova
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Day-6. Updated Singles Draw
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Day-6. Completed Doubles Draw
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