WTA 1000 Doha 2/9 - 2/15 2025

[ashkor87]

Ostapenko is 4-0 against Swiatek, and playing well. ..ominous!

[ashkor87]

Jabeur brought a scimitar to a gun fight.

And also why it is risky to hold a big tournament in a place that has no culture of tennis tournaments

[ashkor87]

Both semis today are sort of 50-50..that is how semis should be!

[ashkor87]

Ostapenko's first serve seems a lot harder and better directed than in the past.. wonder if she has worked on it.. second serve continues to be pathetic, which is a problem, as the old tennis adage goes 'you are only as good as your second serve'

[ashkor87]

at the USO Pegula had mentioned that her coach is trying to get her to hit deeper, even at the risk of a UFE. I dont see any sign of it here, she is playing 'Normally'.. all these improvements dont take hold so easily, I guess. Much as I like Alexandrova, I really thought Pegula would beat her.

[ashkor87]

Osta makes it. 5-0...I am so happy for her

[jazzyg]

I reiterate what I posted here a couple years ago, the last time Ostapenko was playing this well. When she plays like this, she looks like the greatest player of all time. Obviously no one can be consistent going for their shots like she does, but it baffles me how poorly she plays most of the time.

Today, she hit four return winners in Swiatek's first two service games, and she was not even going close to the line on all of them. She just hit them cleanly and very hard. I could tell she was in supreme form when she beat Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 a week after losing to her, backing up her destruction of Paolini.

There never has been anything like a player of Ostapenko's ranking and results being 5-0 against a player of Swiatek's ranking and results on either tour. It goes back to Swiatek being a bully on court and falling apart when someone stands up to her, as Ostapenka does every time they play. When she is on form, there is no one I would rather watch play, but it is basically like one tournament a year that she plays like this.

Of course, the other thing about the 5-0 record is they've never played on clay. When they do, Swiatek will win and all of the demons in her head when she sees Ostapenko on the other side of the net will go away that day.

[jazzyg]

Going back to an earlier discussion in this thread, Halep was terrific on grass her whole career. I posted the numbers a few years ago and then they somehow disappeared. Great athletes do well on grass.

[ashkor87]

I didn't want to go there but yes, anyone who knows tennis knows that

[ti-amie]

Saturday Order of Play

Center Court
Starts at 7:30 AM

Final
ITA S. Errani/ITA J. Paolini (3) vs CHN X. Jiang/TPE F. Wu
Followed By
Final
USA A. Anisimova vs LAT J. Ostapenko

[ti-amie]

Aljona's reaction

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ashkor87]

Ostapenko vs Anisimova is a real puzzle...Osta won here a couple years ago but that was a very different Anisimova..they are very much alike, really, slow of foot, very powerful..Ostapenko did what Ostapenko does but Anisimova's depth and ability to move Alexandrova from side to side, was really impressive. Against that, Ostapenko is a grand slam champion, Anisimova isnt.
52% AA, 48% JO ...?

[ashkor87]

It wasn't that close, in the end..AA has come of age