MATCH POINTS
No.9 seed and Doha debutante Aryna Sabalenka takes on 2004 and 2007 finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova, whose quarterfinal upset of No.4 seed Belinda Bencic meant that the Russian tied the all-time tournament record of match wins (alongside Caroline Wozniacki) with her 19th victory in her 11th appearance. The pair have split two previous meetings, with Sabalenka taking the hardcourt encounter 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of Indian Wells 2018 and Kuznetsova capturing their most recent meeting 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of Madrid last year.
Kuznetsova is bidding to reach her 43rd career final and first since Cincinnati last year. A win would also mean that the 34-year-old holds two Premier 5 or higher finals on her ranking in a 12-month period for the first time since coming runner-up at Miami 2016 and Indian Wells 2017. Sabalenka, meanwhile, is competing in her second semifinal of 2020 following Adelaide; the Belarusian is seeking her 10th career final, and fourth in the past seven months.
PHOTOS: Queens in Qatar: All the Doha champions since 2011
2018 champion Petra Kvitova has also reached her second semifinal of the year following Brisbane. The Czech is aiming to reach her 37th career final, and first since winning Stuttgart last April.
Kvitova will meet World No.1 Ashleigh Barty in the late semifinal, and the rivalry between the two has been bifurcated. Kvitova won their first four meetings, including last year in the Brisbane final and the Australian Open quarterfinals. However, Barty notched her first win over the Czech in last year's Miami Open quarterfinals en route to that title, and since then, Barty has held the upper hand. The top seed has now won their last four encounters, including a measure of revenge in this year's Australian Open quarterfinals, to level the head-to-head at 4-4.
No.1 seeds Barbora Strycova and Hsieh Su-wei will meet No.6 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Jelena Ostapenko in the doubles final. Hsieh and Strycova are trying to become just the second team to complete the Middle East sweep: winning Doha and Dubai in the same year. Lisa Raymond and Liezel Huber also did so in 2012.
ORDER OF PLAY (starts 5pm)
CENTRE COURT
Svetlana KUZNETSOVA (RUS) vs [9] Aryna SABALENKA (BLR)
Not before 6pm
[1] Ashleigh BARTY (AUS) vs [8] Petra KVITOVA (CZE)
Followed by
Doubles final - [1] HSIEH Su-Wei (TPE) / Barbora STRYCOVA (CZE) vs [6] Gabriela DABROWSKI (CAN) / Jelena OSTAPENKO (LAT)
