The finale of the twenty-first edition of the Qatar Total Energies Opencompetition WTA500 played on the outdoor hard courts at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex of dohawill see the 21-year-old Pole Iga Swiatek (Queen of tennis since April 4) against the 28-year-old American Jessica Pegula (current number 4 in the world rankings). The final act of the singles, scheduled for Saturday February 18th at 4pm (Live TV on SuperTennis), will pit the top two seeded players against each other. It will be the first final of 2023 at individual level for both opponents.
In any case, Jessica Pegula will not remain untitled in the capital of Qatar. The Buffalo native tennis player paired with her compatriot Coco Gauffhas in fact secured their second consecutive doubles triumph at the expense of Ukraine Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvian Elena Ostapenko Defeats on Friday 6: 4, 2: 6, 10: 7 (super tiebreak).
The journey of the two finalists at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2023
Defending champion Iga Swiatek has reached her fourteenth WTA-level final (11 wins), dropping just two games in the four sets played so far. The Warsaw-born tennis player knocked out the American in the round of 16 Danielle RoseCollins (6:0, 6:1), in the quarterfinals the Swiss Belinda Bencic to give up the opponent and in the semifinals the Russian Veronica Kudermetova (6-0, 6-1). Jessica Pegula reached her sixth career final (2 wins), beating the Latvian in that order Elena Ostapenko (6-2, 2-6, 7-5), the Brazilian Haddad Maya (6-3, 6-2) and Greek Maria Sakkari (6-2, 4-6, 6-1).
Swiatek-Pegula: the precedents
The budget of six previous Direct comparisons (five on hard court and one on clay) speak for Iga Swiatek, who came out victorious four times. In the final challenge, however, Jessica Pegula prevailed. The American won the first semi-final of the United Cup, played on hard courts at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney last January 6, with a 6-2 double.
