Jelena Ostapenko stuns Simona Halep to reach final of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

DUBAI: Jelena Ostapenko earned a surprise victory over two-time former champion Simona Halep on Friday to reach the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Her opponent will be Veronika Kudermetova, who received a walkover when Marketa Vondrousova forfeited her semi-final due to a right adductor injury.

Ostapenko had won just two matches in her previous five appearances in Dubai, but the 2017 French Open winner has overcome four former Grand Slam champions this week, beating Sofia Kenin, Iga Swiatek and Petra Kvitova before claiming a 2-6 7-6 6-0 win over Halep.

Halep seemed to be in control as she comfortably took the first set, surrendering just five points on serve and closing out the set with an ace. Ostapenko responded by reducing her errors, becoming more aggressive and taking a 3-0 lead in the second set. Halep managed to level at 3-3 but Ostapenko continued to raise her level.

“Again, playing a Grand Slam champion fourth match in a row, it’s not easy,” said Ostapenko. “She was playing completely different tennis from what Petra (Kvitova, her quarter-final opponent) was playing. She was playing much slower, almost no pace comparing to Petra. So I really had to step in from the beginning, which I didn’t do. I was stepping back. I didn’t go into the court. When I understood it and changed things, so it started to go my way.”

With Ostapenko leading 6-5, Halep was forced to save two set points on her serve as the set went to a tiebreak, which Ostapenko astonishingly took 7-0. She won the final set 6-0 in just 21 minutes as Halep crumpled in the face of Ostapenko’s confident assault.

“I knew I have to play aggressive no matter what, no matter what the score is,” Ostapenko added. “She really doesn’t