Damien Kayat takes a look at the semi-finals coming our way from the Qatar Total Open at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Centre.
WTA Tour – Qatar Total Open – Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Centre – 15 Feb 2019
Simona Halep 6/10 | Elina Svitolina 12/10
Ukrainian Elina Svitolina has had fairly subdued start to her season. She did reach her second consecutive quarter-final appearance at Melbourne. But the powerful baseliner has yet to go beyond the quarter-final stage of a slam- unable to shake the perception that she’s slightly susceptible on the big stage – although she does possess several Premier 5 titles. She will have fond memories from this part of the world: she claimed the title in Dubai last season. Svitolina’s greatest success in the regular season came – rather surprisingly – when she claimed the Rome title on clay. Otherwise, her season was a consistent barrage of almost. The semi-final appearance in Canada towards the end of the season highlighted her qualities. But the WTA finals became a platform for her to showcase her true capabilities. She beat a galaxy of stars to claim the title, a list that reads as follows: Stephens, Bertens, Wozniacki, Pliskova, Kvitova. Svitolina has enjoyed a favourable draw here and will need to displace the former World Number One to progress any further.
Former World Number One Simona Halep has looked devastating thus far, looking to wipe away the disappointment of both the recent and more distant past. She was forced into withdrawing at the semi-final stage here last season. She also surrendered her World Number One ranking at Melbourne following yet another heart-breaking defeat to Serena Williams. But Halep is still a formidable force, particularly after claiming her maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros last season. She lost the Rome and Cincinnati finals while also managing to lift the trophy in Canada. She did enjoy a dismal end to the campaign, post-Cincinnati, that saw her lose a swathe of matches in succession. But Halep looks adept on this surface and will be keen to settle old scores against her Ukrainian opponent.
This will be their sixth meeting, with Svitolina quite surprisingly leading the dual in rather lopsided fashion. She leads 5-1, which includes three victories over the Romanian in 2017. This leads me to believe that the powerful groundstrokes of Svitolina may be enough to overwhelm Halep at 12/10. They both have a fairly similar style and this should make for a pulsating game of baseline ping-pong.
Elise Mertens 11/20 | Angelique Kerber 13/10
Angelique Kerber realized a lifelong dream last season by capturing the iconic Wimbledon crown, emulating her hero Steff Graf in the process. Though it was her third Slam, it really came out of nowhere. Yes, she did reach the semi-finals in Melbourne. But her form between Melbourne and SW19 was fairly benign, with a plethora of quarter-finals in the bigger events. She seemed vulnerable to power hitters as events drew to the business end. But Wimbledon has always been kind to those with a more artful approach. Kerber was certainly outmuscled at Melbourne, where she was thrashed by the virtually unknown American, Danielle Collins. This is actually her first event since then. She easily moved past Kontaveit before an almighty battle with Barbora Strycova. The elegant lefty will be hoping to make her first final appearance since that grass-court masterclass.
Belgian Elise Mertens has certainly not lived up to her billing following that semi-final showing in Melbourne last year. She has tended to flatter with excellent showings in slightly depleted events: she won the Samsung Open and Morocco Open last season. She did have a decent run at Rolland Garros, making it all the way to the fourth round. But outside of that, it was fairly slim pickings for Mertens. She reached the semis of the Silicon Valley Classic – which is hardly the Ritz – Carlton of events on tour. Back-to-back quarter-finals at Canada and Cincinnati offered a glimpse of her prodigious talent. She has started the year in moderate fashion and has overcome some stiff opposition this week. She beat the ebullient Kiki Bertens in straight sets, perhaps playing some of her best tennis in some time.
Kerber leads the head-to-head 1-0. That victory came last year on the hardcourts of the Hopman Cup. Having said that, I think Mertens makes for an appealing underdog this week. She should be much fresher after her straight sets procession in the last round. Kerber was stretched to breaking point by Strycova and may feel jaded against her younger opponent.
