Aryna Sabalenka lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round, while Coco Gauff fell at the same stage to Marta Kostyuk.

Top-ten WTA stars Jasmine Paolini, Qinwen Zheng, Emma Navarro, Paula Badosa, and Daria Kasatkina all lost before the quarter-final stage, as just three seeds remained among the final eight players in Doha.

Jabeur and Ostapenko battled their way through to the quarter-finals and were hopeful of taking their place in the last four.

The Middle Eastern fans were firmly behind the Tunisian star throughout their encounter, something the 2017 French Open champion was keen to acknowledge after the match.

Jelena Ostapenko says the Doha crowd made her ‘angry’ and motivated her to beat Ons Jabeur

Ostapenko eased her way through to the semis with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Jabeur and gave her thoughts on the crowd during her on-court interview.

“Thank you guys for not cheering for me because it made me even more motivated,” she said.

“I think it’s great that Ons [Jabeur] is playing, a woman in the Middle East, she’s representing and playing, it’s amazing what she’s done for tennis.

“But you know, guys, you made me a bit angry and more motivated, so I was playing even better.

“This is normal, I’m just really happy to be through, and I hope you guys enjoyed the match.”

Jabeur was forced to stop on several occasions, as she asked the crowd to be fair to both players.

Ostapenko will now take on Polish world number two Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, who is a three-time defending champion in Doha.

The Latvian gave her thoughts on the semi-final matchup as she prepares to ‘enjoy’ her fifth career meeting with Swiatek.

“The main thing is I have to focus on myself,” said Ostapenko.

“I feel like when I’m playing my game I can honestly beat many players, that’s what I’ve been working for in the preseason.

“I felt like some tournaments were close matches, I didn’t win, but I feel like hard work pays off, and I’m finding my game more, so I’m just going to focus more on myself and just enjoy it.”

Swiatek beat Elena Rybakina in the earlier quarter-final, 6-2, 7-5, as she continued her impressive Qatar Open winning streak.

“I’m super happy, proud of myself, playing against Elena [Rybakina] it’s never easy, and as you said at the beginning of the second set, I feel like she increased her level, so I needed to do that to to come back,” she said during her post-match interview.

“So I’m really happy that in the last game, I was able to break Elena because with her serve for sure, it’s tough.”

Swiatek then looked ahead to her semi-final match with Ostapenko as she explained what the Latvian does that is ‘tricky.’

“Jelena [Ostapenko] plays super fast, sometimes you can’t see where the ball is going to go, it’s tricky,” she said.

Jelena Ostapenko and Iga Swiatek’s surprising head-to-head record

Swiatek has enjoyed significant success during her time on the WTA Tour, holding the number-one ranking for 125 weeks and winning five Grand Slam titles.

Not many players hold a winning record over the Pole, especially not a dominant one.

However, Ostapenko looks to be the exception to the rule, having won all four of her career meetings with Swiatek.

• 2023 US Open (R16) – Jelena Ostapenko beat Iga Swiatek, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
• 2022 Dubai (R16) – Jelena Ostapenko beat Iga Swiatek, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6
• 2021 Indian Wells (R16) – Jelena Ostapenko beat Iga Swiatek, 6-4, 6-3
• 2019 Birmingham (R32) – Jelena Ostapenko beat Iga Swiatek, 6-0, 6-2

The pair last played one another at the US Open in 2023, as the world number 37 battled back from a set down to secure her place in the quarter-finals.

She’ll no doubt hope to add a fifth win to the list when she takes on Swiatek for a place in the Qatar Open final on Friday, February 14.