There’s a blockbuster semifinal between Iga Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko on Friday, and that’s a match with a lot of intrigue. But if you read our Qatar TotalEnergies Open betting preview, you should already have a tournament future on Swiatek to win this event at +400 odds. If you do, the only thing you should be doing with this match is hedging a little.
With Ostapenko having a 4-0 head-to-head record against Swiatek, it makes a lot of sense to put a little on the Latvian at +290 or so to lower your exposure on the Pole. But in the other semifinal, we’re going to see a red-hot Ekaterina Alexandrova against Amanda Anisimova. And I really like Alexandrova to find a way through.
Anisimova has one of the biggest games on the WTA Tour. She has a massive serve and effortless power from the baseline. Also, as a somewhat poor mover, playing in the slower conditions in Doha actually helps her. She’s afforded more time to track down balls she normally doesn’t, and she’s able to set her feet to rip shots she normally rushes.
The problem is that Anisimova is still a player that is very difficult to trust when it comes to the mental game. She tends to make poor decisions with her groundstrokes, leading to a high percentage of unforced errors. In fact, her career unforced error per point percentage of 20.7% would be the seventh-highest number on tour over the last 52 weeks.
