Ostapenko pulls off comeback over Halep to make Dubai final

DUBAI: Jelena Ostapenko's remarkable week of comebacks at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships continued with a 2-6, 7-6(0), 6-0 victory over Simona Halep in the semifinals.

She will play Veronika Kudermetova, who advanced after qualifier Marketa Vondrousova withdrew due to an injury, in the final.

Ostapenko has beaten a Grand Slam champion in all four rounds en route to the final, previously taking out Sofia Kenin, Iga Swiatek and Petra Kvitova. She needed a third-set tiebreak to edge the latter two, and coming into the semifinals had spent six hours on court compared to Halep's three hours and 40 minutes.

However, the Latvian was once again supremely clutch as she pulled off another unlikely escape - one reminiscent at times of her comeback win over Halep in the 2017 Roland Garros final, which she won 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 from a break down in both the second and third sets.

The result puts Ostapenko into her 11th career final, sixth at WTA 500 level or above, and third in the past nine months after a title run in Eastbourne and a runner-up showing in Luxembourg last year. IANS

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