Pegula will play fifth seed Maria Sakkari of Greece in the semi-final today. Sakkari yesterday beat third seed Caroline Garcia of Spain 6-2, 6-7, 7-6
Pegula, the 28-year-old, making her third appearance in Doha, shocked fans by reaching the semi-finals as a qualifier two years ago. “Yes, definitely it’s a nice feeling,” Pegula said after the match. “A lot easier (to reach the semi-finals) physically, but definitely still very tough, especially with how strong and tough the field is,” the American added.
“I think everyone is a top player and playing really good tennis right now. So it’s always a new year. But yeah, a little bit different than the qualifying days,” Pegula said when reminded that she reached semi-finals in 2021 as a qualifier.
Monica Seles is the only American to win the title in Doha after her triumph in 2002. Yesterday’s quarter-finals were the first time since 2004 that two Americans – Pegula and Coco Gauff – had reached the last-eight of the 32-player tournament in Qatar.
Veronika Kudermetova of Russia yesterday lined up a clash against the top seed and World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland after she beat fourth seed Gauff in three feisty sets.
After taking the first set with ease, Kudermetova’s form dipped in the second but the world No.11 rallied in fine style to win 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in 2 hours and 5 minutes. This will be the second semi-final this season for Kudermetova, 25, after she reached the last-four at Adelaide 2 last month.
Kudermetova, who beat Grand Slam champions Barbora Krejcikova and Sofia Kenin in her first two matches in Doha, will now take on Swiatek who got a walkover against Belinda Bencic in the wee hours of Thursday.
Bencic, who beat two-time Doha champion Viktoria Azarenka on Wednesday, announced that she was suffering from ‘fatigue’. When Kudermetova takes on Swiatek today, she will bid to reach her first Tour final since making it to the title clash in Istanbul in April 2022.
Kudermetova was pleased with her fight against Gauff, a losing finalist at the French Open last year. “I’m so proud to get this win. I’m so happy. Today was really difficult because of the wind, you know, especially when I played against Coco. She’s a great player. She’s already a champion. I am so happy that I won this match,” Kudermetova said after the marathon clash.
When asked about her semi-final against Swiatek today, Kudermetova said: “(There’s) no pressure because I have already played two times against her and I lost both (smiles). I will try to do my best. I will try to find the key to play against her. I mean it’s it’s nice challenge to have Iga next to your side of the court.”
The winner in Doha tomorrow will get richer by $120,150 and 470 points. The losing finalist will take home $74,161 and 305 points.
Results
Women’s singles quarter-finalsIga Swiatek (1), Poland, def. Belinda Bencic (7), Switzerland, walkover; Veronika Kudermetova (8), Russia, def. Coco Gauff (4), US, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Jessica Pegula (2), US, def. Beatriz Haddad Maia, Brazil, 6-3, 6-2; Maria Sakkari (5), Greece, def. Caroline Garcia (3), France 6-2, 6-7, 7-6
Women’s doubles semi-finals
Lyudmyla Kichenok, Ukraine, and Jelena Ostapenko (2), Latvia, def. Vera Zvonareva, Russia, and Zhaoxuan Yang, China, 1-6, 6-3, 10-6.
Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff (1), United States, def. Zhang Shuai, China, and Giuliana Olmos (4), Mexico, 6-1, 6-3.
Order of Play
Centre Court (starts at 4:30pm)
Semi-final: Sakkari vs Pegula
Followed by: Iga Swiatek vs Kudermetova
Doubles final: (USA) Jessica Pegula/Coco Gauff vs (UKR) L. Kichenok/(LAT) J. Ostapenko (2)