Top-seeded Cori Gauff and Jessica Pegula have reached the Doha doubles final after a dominant performance against Giuliana Olmos and Zhang Shuai. Gauff and Pegula, who reached the Australian Open semifinal last month, ousted fourth-seeded Olmos and Zhang 6-1 6-3 in the Doha semifinal.
For Gauff and Pegula, it was their third straight-set doubles win this week. Now, Gauff and Pegula are set to battle Liudmila Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko in the Doha doubles final. Kichenok and Ostapenko, who won two doubles titles last year, are a very quality doubles team and will certainly be the biggest test Gauff and Pegula have faced this week.
How Gauff and Pegula dismantled Olmos and Zhang?
Olmos and Zhang actually had a chance to open an early first-set lead as they served out the first game of the match and had a break point in the second set. But Gauff and Pegula saved the break point and then earned the first break of the match in the third game.
After saving a break point in the second game, Gauff and Pegula saved three more break points in the fourth game to open a 3-1 lead. Olmos and Zhang never recovered from missing those early break points as Gauff and Pegula broke the fourth seeds again in the fifth and seventh games to seal the opener.
After winning the last six games of the first set, Gauff and Pegula saved two break points in the third game of the second set. Olmos and Zhang were once again punished for not realizing their break points as Gauff and Pegula earned the first break of the second set in the fourth game.
In the sixth game, Gauff and Pegula had a break point to go up by a double break but they didn’t convert. In the eighth game, Gauff and Pegula had a match point on Olmos and Zhang’s serve but didn’t realize. However, not realizing that match point didn’t impact Gauff and Pegula, who routinely served out for the match in the following game.
It remains to be seen if Gauff and Pegula can now beat Kichenok and Ostapenko for the Doha doubles title.
