Qatar Open: Ostapenko sweeps aside Jabeur to book spot in semi-finals

Jelena Ostapenko reached the last four of the Qatar Open by defeating Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha.

The Latvian was in scintillating form as she swept aside the challenge of the Tunisian, powering past Jabeur with typically blistering groundstrokes as she overwhelmed the world No 35.

Ostapenko, ranked just two places below Jabeur at 37th after a difficult season last year, broke five times in total as her opponent struggled to cope with the intensity and pace of her ball-striking.

Jabeur only managed a single break of serve, coming in the first set, before that was wiped out by Ostapenko’s three. The Latvian then struck twice without reply in the second set to seal a dominant win and power into the semi-finals in Doha.

Ostapenko, ranked No 37, will play three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek next in what will be a huge task.

Ahead of her victory, the Latvian won against Japanese qualifier Aoi Ito (6-2, 6-1), Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 16 seed (7-6 (5), 7-5) and Italian Jasmine Paolini, the No 4 seed (6-2, 6-2).

Jabeur, ranked No 35, beat American McCartney Kessler (6-2, 6-0), Chinese Qinwen Zheng, the No 7 seed (6-4, 6-2) and American wildcard Sofia Kenin (6-3, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Qatar tournament.

Doha WTA 1000, other last-eight results (Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, hard, USD 3.664.963, most recent results first):

• Marta Kostyuk vs. Amanda Anisimova
• Iga Swiatek beat Elena Rybakina (5): 6-2, 7-5
• Ekaterina Alexandrova beat Jessica Pegula (6): 4-6, 6-1, 6-1