Doha: American Amanda Anisimova powered past Latvian Jelena Ostapenko with a 6-4, 6-3 victory in a thrilling Qatar TotalEnergies finale to secure the biggest win of her career yesterday.
Despite brief interruptions due to rain at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, the 23-year-old prevailed in an 80-minute affair to win her maiden WTA 1000 title before receiving the glittering golden falcon trophy from the Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani in the presence of Qatar Tennis and Squash Federation President Nasser bin Ghanem Al Khelaifi and Tournament Director Saad Al Mohannadi.
Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani presented the winner's trophy to Qatar TotalEnergies Open singles champion Amanda Anisimova in the presence of Qatar Tennis and Squash Federation President Nasser bin Ghanem Al Khelaifi.
“It feels amazing. It’s been an incredible week. Every match was really tough. I’m super happy with my performance and so proud to win my first 1000 title. It’s really special to me,” Anisimova said after the memorable victory.
In what was the first Doha final featuring two players ranked outside the Top 30, the World No. 41 Anisimova proved her superiority over the No.37-ranked Ostapenko, with her big-hitting abilities.
In yesterday’s opening set, both the finalists were in full throttle, leveling at 3-3 hitting forehand winners on break points. Anisimova moved ahead, firing a backhand return winner to lead 5-4, as Ostapenko hit multiple double faults in a game for the second time in the set.
Anisimova then served out the one-set lead, delivering an error-forcing forehand on her first set point. Anisimova had 10 winners to Ostapenko’s nine in the opener, while Ostapenko was undone by 19 unforced errors, including five double faults.
The second set remained a tight affair until a 20-minute rain delay at 3-3. Upon returning to the court, Anisimova elevated her return game and rattled off the final three games to lock down the biggest win of her career.
“It was pretty stressful, especially with the rain at 3-3. I just tried to stay focused, but there wasn’t much either of us could do about the conditions. That game was super important, and I’m so happy it went my way,” Anisimova said.
“It was actually quite stressful, especially with the rain, at 3-3,” Anisimova said.
“I was trying to stay focused. There’s not much that either of us could do with the conditions. But I think that game was super important, and I’m happy that it went my way because, as you said, it was a very challenging moment in the match,” Anisimova, who is likely to storm into the WTA Top 20 for the first time, said.
Italy's Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini celebrate with the trophies after defeating Jiang Xinyu and Wu Fang-Hsien of China in the doubles final.
Earlier, Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini captured their first WTA 1000 doubles title of the season with a 7-5, 7-6(10) win over Jiang Xinyu and Wu Fang-Hsien.
The Italians, the 2024 WTA Doubles Team of the Year, are now 3-0 in WTA 1000 finals as a pair in their careers, following victories in Rome and Beijing last year.
They needed to overcome a stiff challenge from an in-form unseeded duo who were already competing in their third final of 2025, and who had upset No. 2 seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko earlier in the tournament.
