2021 WTA Qatar Open Final Preview: Muguruza vs Kvitova

The 2021 WTA Qatar Open is a strong event running from the 1st of March till the 6th of March featuring some of the best WTA stars.

A week filled with strong tennis in Qatar is coming to a conclusion with the Qatar Open final. It will be Garbine Muguruza vs Petra Kvitova with the Spaniard being the favourite in this one. She played very strong tennis all week long and even got an extended break due to Azarenka pulling out of the match yesterday. That might give her a boost physically if the match goes the distance.

Petra Kvitova on the other hand had an easier time reaching the final as she played lesser opposition. Even so, she demonstrated a strong level of tennis that is certainly good enough to win the title. Her performance against Pegula yesterday was especially striking due to the windy conditions making it harder for both players.

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In this match, Muguruza will be the favourite as she simply demonstrated stronger tennis throughout the week. The added rest time might also prove key if the match goes the distance which is expected. The H2H heavily favours Kvitova who won four of the five matches she played against Muguruza including a victory on clay. She will have chances in this one as well but the Spaniard has been the more consistent player as of late which should give her the advantage.

2021 Qatar Open Schedule of Play

Saturday, March 6th:

16:00 Muguruza G. (Esp) - Kvitova P. (Cze)

Friday, March 5th:

The semifinals at the Qatar Open are scheduled for Friday and we will have two great matchups. In the first one, we will have Kvitova take on Pegula. The match is scheduled to start at 16:00 and it should be a good one. Both of them played really well so far in Doha and the chance to compete for the title is on the line. They played only once so far in their career and Kvitova won that match in straight sets. She will be favoured in this one as well but Pegula will a chance in this on.

The 2nd semifinal will go ahead when the first one finishes and it will be Muguruza vs Azarenka. It is a fascinating matchup that could end up being a classic as both of them demonstrated strong form so far in the event. Azarenka has some fitness issues so that might prove key if the match goes the distance. They played four times so far with each winning two matches. Muguruza will be the overwhelming favourite but nothing is certain when two great players play.  

16:00 Kvitova P. (Cze) - Pegula J. (Usa)
17:30 Azarenka V. (Blr) - Muguruza G. (Esp)

Thursday, March 4th:

The quarterfinals at the Qatar Open are set and we will get to see four interesting matches on Thursday. Some big names will be on display such as Svitolina, Muguruza and Pliskova which should guarantee a good level of tennis. Similar to previous days the programme will start at 12:30 with Kontaveit taking on Kvitova. Kvitova leads the H2H with 4-2 and she will be favoured once again. After them, we will see Pliskova play Pegula. Pliskova had a very tough match against Jabeur which might prove crucial in the match she will play less than 18 hours later.

The 2nd batch of quarterfinals will start at 16:00 CET with Svitolina taking on Azarenka. A true spectacle in the making, it should be a very interesting match that might see Svitolina beat Azarenka for the first time. They played three times so far with the Belarussian winning all three. The final quarterfinal of the day will be between Muguruza and Sakkari. Both of them did very well to reach the quarterfinal. They only played once so far and it was in Abu Dhabi two months ago. Sakkari won that match in straight sets but this time around it should be a bit tougher than that.

12:30 Kontaveit A. (Est) - Kvitova P. (Cze)
14:00 Pegula J. (Usa) - Pliskova Ka. (Cze)
16:00 Svitolina E. (Ukr) - Azarenka V. (Blr)
17:30 Muguruza G. (Esp) - Sakkari M. (Gre)

Wednesday, March 3rd:

The WTA Qatar Open continues with a packed day of tennis on Wednesday. Day 3 of the event will feature some of the best in the world play such as Svitolina, Kvitova, Muguruza and defending champion Sabalenka. As yesterday the programme will start at 12:30 and it will be Azarenka against Siegemund. After those two we will get to see Ostapenko take on Pegula while Kvitova will paly Pavlyuchenkova. Sakkari will play against Keys at 15:30 while Svitolina will take on Doi at the same time.

The later part of the day will feature defending champion Sabalenka take on Muguruza in a fascinating matchup. Both players have had a strong Australian swing so this match could go either way but good tennis is guaranteed. The final match of the day will be between Pliskova and Jabeur in another banger where both of them will be looking to display their hard-hitting nature.

12:30 Siegemund L. (Ger) - Azarenka V. (Blr)
14:00 Ostapenko J. (Lat) - Pegula J. (Usa)
14:00 Pavlyuchenkova A. (Rus) - Kvitova P. (Cze)
15:30 Sakkari M. (Gre) - Keys M. (Usa)
15:30 Svitolina E. (Ukr) - Doi M. (Jpn)
17:00 Sabalenka A. (Blr) - Muguruza G. (Esp)
18:30 Jabeur O. (Tun) Pliskova Ka. (Cze)

Tuesday, March 2nd:

The 2nd day at the Qatar Open will bring us six interesting matches headlined by talented youngsters Bencic and Rybakina. Just like yesterday, the programme will start at 12:30 CET and it will be Rybakina taking on Siegemund. The German entered the main draw through the qualification and she will look to continue her good run against Rybakina. At the same time, we will see Wang take on Pegula who is looking to continue her Australian form. Jabeur will play Blinkova while another qualify in Pliskova will play Pavlyuchenkova.

The afternoon part of the schedule will see Bencic play Keys as the Swiss player is looking to build upon her result in Adelaide. Keys is a tough out on any day so it will be a good test for Bencic. The final match of the day will see Zheng take on Anisimova in a match that will go either way. Both players enjoy the hard courts so they will be in their element.

12:30 Rybakina E. (Kaz) - Siegemund L. (Ger)
12:30 Wang Q. (Chn) - Pegula J. (Usa)
14:00 Jabeur O. (Tun) - Blinkova A. (Rus)
14:00 Pliskova Kr. (Cze) - Pavlyuchenkova A. (Rus)
16:00 Keys M. (Usa) - Bencic B. (Sui)
17:30 Zheng S. (Chn) - Anisimova A. (Usa)

Monday, March 1st:

The first day of the Qatar Open will feature 8 matches in total featuring some of the highest seeds at this event such as Muguruza and Bencic along with Kerber. It will start off quite early Central European Time with Keys taking on Bencic at 08:00. At the same time, Anisimova will take on Zheng. Several prominent matches will follow spread out throughout the day with the most notable ones being Brady - Kontaveit, Kudermetova - Muguruza and Bertens - Ostapenko. Angelique Kerber will take on Buyukakcay from Turkey.

The afternoon hours will be reserved for two very interesting matches with the first one being Sakkari vs Sherif. After that match concludes we will be able to see two veterans battling it out as Kuznetsova will take on Azarenka. Besides these 8 main draw matches, there will four qualifying matches that will determine who will enter the main draw of the event.

Main Draw

08:00 Keys M. (Usa) - Bencic B. (Sui)
08:00 Zheng S. (Chn) - Anisimova A. (Usa)
12:30 Brady J. (Usa) - Kontaveit A. (Est)
14:00 Kudermetova V. (Rus) - Muguruza G. (Esp)
15:00 Kerber A. (Ger) - Buyukakcay C. (Tur)
16:00 Bertens K. (Ned) - Ostapenko J. (Lat)
16:30 Sakkari M. (Gre) - Sherif M. (Egy)
17:30 Kuznetsova S. (Rus) - Azarenka V. (Blr)

Qualification:

12:30 Bucsa C. (Esp) - Pliskova Kr. (Cze)
12:30 Pegula J. (Usa) - Doi M. (Jpn)
12:30 Siegemund L. (Ger) - Tsurenko L. (Ukr)
14:00 Mattek-Sands B. (Usa) - Blinkova A. (Rus)