Simona Halep produced another epic comeback as she edged past Elina Svitolina 6-3 3-6 6-4 to reach the Doha final.
The Roland Garros champion won the last five games as she secured a spot in Saturday’s Doha final by edging past Svitolina.
As for Svitolina, she had won the last three meetings against the former world number one and lead 4-1 before falling to the Romanian.
This means that Halep will play Elise Mertens in the final after the Belgian stunned Angelique Kerber 6-4 2-6 6-1 to reach her first premier final.
An early break in the third game was enough for Halep in the first set as she fought off three break points in the last game to seal the opening set in 39 minutes.
However Svitolina came back in the second set as she proved to be clinical against a weak Halep second serve as she broke twice to level the match and force a deciding set.
It was a partisan crowd that was mostly in favour as at times it felt like a football match. But Svitolina managed to keep the crowd quiet in the opening stages as she stormed to a 3-0 lead.
The Ukrainian was on the verge of victory as she had break points for a 5-1 lead and had Halep on the ropes at times. But Halep wasn’t going to give up easily and held in an epic sixth game.
From then on it was all about the world number three as she won the next four games after that to seal the match and her place in the final.
It was shots like these that saw Halep’s mental strength increase and get her over the line in a 2 hour and 7 minute battle:
Ridiculous pic.twitter.com/HMAPdwP3rE
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) February 15, 2019
After the match Halep expressed her delight at her comeback, “I’m happy because I didn’t give up,” Halep said to WTA’s website.
“The two finals that I played against her in Rome I gave up and I was not ready to fight. Now I change that, and it makes me happier, because I showed myself that I’m able to do that.”
Although it was another frustrating loss for Svitolina, it was Halep’s mental strength and the Ukrainian’s lack of it that will be talked about.
In the final Halep will play Elise Mertens after she reached her first Premier final with a 6-4 2-6 6-1 win over Angelique Kerber.
The Wimbledon champion showed signs of tiredness from her previous match as Mertens’ backhand ensured her a place in the Doha final.
