Jelena Ostapenko reached the biggest final of her career, which is projected to propel her to No.45 in the rankings, after Andrea Petkovic unfortunately retired from their Qatar Total Open semifinal encounter.
The 27th-ranked Petkovic had a 5-1 lead in the first set, but the 18-year-old Ostapenko miraculously won six games in row, grabbed the set and after just one game played in the second set Petkovic’s injury forced her to give up on the match.
The world No.88 Ostapenko’s opponent in the final will be Carla Suarez Navarro, who blitzed past Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-0 in the first semifinal in Doha. It’s interesting to note that Ostapenko actually leads Suarez Navarro 1-0 in their head-to-head stats and it’s even more interesting that it was a 6-2 6-0 victory in the first round of Wimbledon last year. (photos: Jimmie48, Ralf Reinecke)
