She hammered Iga Swiatek in the semifinal<\/a> and has yet to drop a set. However, Anisimova’s performances have come close to matching the Latvian’s. She beat Victoria Azarenka, Paula Badosa, Leylah Fernandez, Marta Kostyuk, and Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach the final, only dropping one set.<\/p>\nThe only previous meeting between these two was in Doha two years ago, where Ostapenko won a tight battle. The dynamics of this matchup are fascinating. Anisimova thrives most when she has time off both wings but deals with much pace into her backhand much better. That means the American might handle the crosscourt backhand rallies much better than Swiatek did, who was rushed throughout her match with Ostapenko.<\/p>\n
Anisimova’s serve will also be crucial in this matchup. The conditions in Doha are pretty slow, which makes getting free points with the first serve more challenging. However, it is pivotal that Ansimova finds a way to do that since Ostapenko has been jumping on top of second serves in every match.<\/p>\n
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