Kvitova powers past Barty to the final at Qatar Open in Doha

After Aryna Sabalenka defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first semifinal match, she knew that in the final she will meet a very quality opponent. The first-seeded Ashleigh Barty and no. 8 in Doha, Petra Kvitova met in the second semifinal clash.

Before the match, H2H statistic was tied as Kvitova managed to win the first 4 matches and Barty dominated in the second quartet of matches. And the Czech started the match really strong, walking towards the fifth victory in the H2H statistic breaking Barty twice in the first 3 games. However, Barty got also one break and so the Czech had the advantage of only one break which she almost lost in the 8th game when she faced 2 breakpoints. But she turned them away and won the first set 6-4.

Ashleigh Barty showed all of her qualities in the second set. The Aussie did not convert the breakpoint in the 2nd game, however, she converted one in the 4th and in the 8th to win a set 6-2 while not allowing Kvitova to have a single breakpoint.

The 3rd set needed to decide about the winner. Both players held their service games until the 5th game when Kvitova broke Barty for the first time in the 3rd set. However, the Aussie fought back in the next game, but that did not stop Kvitova from breaking her again in the seventh game. The Czech did not lose her lead then and marched towards a 6-4 victory in the third set to book her spot in the final of the Qatar Open.