Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova will meet in Saturday’s championship match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
The unseeded players advanced to the final in decidedly different fashions in Friday’s semifinals, with Ostapenko rallying for a three-set win against two-time Dubai champ Simona Halep of Romania and Kudermetova advancing in a walkover. Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic withdrew with a right adductor injury.
Ostapenko finished strong in a 2-6, 7-6 (0), 6-0 defeat of Halep in one hour and 36 minutes. She never faced a break point in the 21-minute final set.
Ostapenko, 24, is seeking her fifth singles title on the WTA Tour. Kudermetova, also 24, is chasing her second title.
–Field Level Media