2025 WTA Doha final preview: Amanda Anisimova vs. Jelena Ostapenko

If you have a good idea of who’s going to win this match, you’re a more confident prognosticator than I am. If you thought this match would happen in the first place, you’re a better one. In my semifinal previews, I picked Jelena Ostapenko to lose to Iga Swiatek, and Amanda Anisimova to lose to Ekaterina Alexandrova. They wanted no time proving me wrong with easy, one-sided victories.

So it’s clear that the unseeded American and Latvian, who are currently ranked 41st and 37th, are dialed in. Ostapenko hasn’t lost a set in Doha, and was in complete control against world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in her 6-3, 6-1 win on Friday. Anisimova, meanwhile, has dropped just one set, in her quarterfinal against Marta Kostyuk. Anisimova says that a recent training block with her team is paying off, and that she has gained confidence with each win this week. Ostapenko, who was heckled during her quarterfinal win over local fan favorite Ons Jabeur, seems extra motivated to decimate the competition.

“I think she really like the courts here,” Anisimova says of Ostapenko. “She’s been playing lights out.”

All of which makes this final not just a surprise, but an exceedingly difficult match to call, and one that has the potential to be an entertaining shot-making duel. Anisimova and Ostapenko are two of the most prolific winner producers in tennis. Both of them can turn virtually any swing from any position into a point-ending missile, and both try to make it happen as early and often as possible. As their middling rankings make clear, though, those winners come with a high degree of risk, and, often, a high number of errors. You never know when one or the other is going to turn it on, or turn it off.

Their one previous meeting, which also came in Doha in 2022, isn’t much help. Ostapenko won 6-4 in the third set. Anisimova could easily return the favor with interest on Saturday, and if both women continue to play as well as they did in the semis, I might even favor her, because she’ll get more free points with her serve, and possibly win more points attacking Ostapenko’s second serve

I think she really like the courts here. She’s been playing lights out. Amanda Anisimova on Jelena Ostapenko

But I’ll still go with the player who has more experience in these moments. Ostapenko has 17 titles, Anisimova just two. As ball-strikers, they’re probably about even. As far as who will feel more comfortable on a stage like this, I’ll give the edge to Ostapenko. Winner: Ostapenko