Ostapenko comes back to win against Halep in Dubai, secures final

Simona Halep put forward a pathetic effort in the 3rd set against Jelena Ostapenko in the Dubai semifinal sending the Latvian into the final 6-2 6-7(0) 0-6.

After Simona Halep took the first set with 6-2 not many believed the Latvian Ostapenko was capable of being able to win the match. She is quite famous for her playstyle which tends to get worse the more adversity she faces but today was a brilliant comeback win in the 2nd set before Halep threw in the towel in the 3rd set. Ostapenko played a very aggressive style but committed way too many errors in the first set.

She quickly lost it 2-6. She continued playing a similar style in the 2nd set but she was able to choose her spots a bit more careful. She hit more winners than in the first set and it worked out. Early on she was up 3-0 but Halep was able to battle back to 3-3. After that, neither was able to create much pressure on the opponent.

Halep had to save a few set points before she forced a tiebreak but in it, she got completely outplayed. Ostapenko won it with 7-0 forcing a decider set that was shaping up to be a good one. It was anything but good with Halep completely embarrassing herself with her level and effort. Ostapenko smashed her easily as if she played an amateur with the Romanian not showing any emotions.

It was a very strange situation as Ostapenko finished it off with a bagel in 21 minutes. She will face Kudermetova in the final as the Russian advanced with a walkover.