Just four women remain in contention for the title at the WTA Qatar Open ahead of semifinals day. There should be plenty of entertaining tennis for the fans in Doha and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for both semifinals. But who will book their place in Saturday’s final?
WTA Qatar Open Semifinal Predictions
Petra Kvitova vs Jessica Pegula
Head-to-head: Kvitova 1-0 Pegula
Jessica Pegula has gone some way to proving her run to the Australian Open quarterfinals was no fluke this week at the WTA Qatar Open. The American, who currently sits just one place beneath her career-high ranking of world #43, began her week in the qualifying, beating Gabriella Dabrowski, Anastasia Potapova and Misaki Doi to reach the main draw. There, she has accounted for Wang Qiang, Jelena Ostapenko and second seed Karolina Pliskova, beating all three without dropping a set.
One suspects that Petra Kvitova will offer more resistance. The Czech appears to be enjoying the conditions in Doha and, after a disappointing Australian Open, has played some fine tennis to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Anett Kontaveit, although the Estonian pushed her to the brink. She also beat Pegula convincingly in their only previous meeting, which came at the US Open in 2020. It would be a surprise were she to win so easily in Doha, but expect her power to give her the edge once again.
Prediction: Kvitova in 3
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Victoria Azarenka vs Garbine Muguruza
Head-to-head: Azarenka 2-2 Muguruza
This might well have been a match to remember if both players were coming into it fully fit. Garbine Muguruza, in particular, has excelled so far this season with the only real blot on her resume a narrow three-set defeat in the fourth round at the hands of Naomi Osaka at Melbourne Park. But she has put that behind her in impressive fashion at the WTA Qatar Open, beating Veronika Kudermetova, the in-form Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari en route to the last four.
Victoria Azarenka, meanwhile, has also played some very fine tennis, having beaten Svetlana Kuznetsova, Laura Siegemund and top seed Elina Svitolina, all in straight-sets. But although her win over the Ukrainian in the quarterfinals looked comfortable on paper, Azarenka seemed to be struggling with her movement throughout the match, as well as her serve. If those struggles continue in the semifinals, this should be fairly comfortable for Muguruza.
Prediction: Muguruza in 2
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