The semifinals at the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships couldn\u2019t have gone in more different ways, from Jelena Ostapenko being just a tiebreak away from going home she prevailed in a final set whilst Veronika Kudermetova did not have to step out on court given Marketa Vondrousova pulled put with a right adductor injury. With two big hitters now in the final, who will take the title home?<\/p>\n
Head-to-head: 0-0<\/strong><\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with the obvious, there\u2019s no way anyone expected a final like this in Dubai, and that\u2019s nothing against both women. What\u2019s even more surprising is that the Latvian has beaten a Grand Slam champion in each and every round so far, with wins against Sofia Kenin, Iga Swiatek<\/a>, Petro Kvitova, and Simona Halep<\/a>. In fact, Kudermetova will be her first non-Grand Slam champion opponent.<\/p>\n Both Ostapenko and Kudermetova play a similar brand of aggressive tennis, sometime deemed as mindless ballbashing. With that in mind, there\u2019s no doubt matches like this come down to whoever is redlining with their game. Given Ostapenko has beaten four Grand Slam champions as mentioned earlier, it must be noted that Kudermetova has beaten two herself in Victoria Azarenka and Garbine Muguruza. I think it\u2019s fair to say both have been playing well this week which only makes this an even harder match to call.<\/p>\n But despite all this there are two reasons I give the Russian the advantage. The first is Ostapenko\u2019s shaky serve. It\u2019s somewhat amazing she\u2019s made the final given the amount of double faults as well as poor second serve percentage points won. Kudermetova, if she’s serving well, can make the most of Ostapenko\u2019s serve struggles and not give up many chances for the former Roland Garros champion to break. It\u2019s hard to see how the Russian won\u2019t make more chances than the Latvian.<\/p>\n