The final of the 2019 WTA Qatar Total Open will have the top seed Simona Halep go up against the rising Belgian Elise Mertens. The final will be played in Doha on Saturday, February 16, at 6 pm local time (3 pm BST) and the Halep v Mertens live streaming options can be found below.
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Simona Halep v Elise Mertens Head to Head
The two players have met only twice on the tour so far and Halep has won both of those matches. Their last meeting took place in the fourth round of the 2018 French Open, where Halep sailed through to the next round in straight sets.
Halep Finds her Groove in Doha
The Romanian No. 1 is heading into this fixture on the back of a thrilling, three-set victory over Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinal. It was quite a match for Halep, who had already lost to Svitolina thrice on the tour, prior to that encounter.
Despite that, the top seed managed to break that streak of defeats to Svitolina and made it to the final in Doha for the second time in her career. She emerged as the winner with 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, in a little over two hours. Over the course of the match, Halep played some quality tennis and for most of the time, she was the superior player.
The last time Halep reached the final in Doha was back in 2014 and she moved on to win the title then after defeating Angelique Kerber.
This time around, she is well on the path to repeat that feat again and in many ways, the credit should also go to her new coach Thierry Van Cleemput. He joined the team shortly before the competition and turns out, that decision has done well for Halep.
After spending the first month of the tour without a coach – a decision that resulted in her losing the No. 1 ranking to Naomi Osaka, she is now moving closer to taking her crown back.
Mertens Continues to Impress
Mertens, who is currently the World No. 21, is presently enjoying one of the best spells of her career so far. After winning three singles titles last season, she is now on the path to achieving something better – win her first Premier tournament.
More than that, what is particularly impressive here is the way in which she has made it to the final in Doha. In the quarterfinal, she defeated the fifth seed Kiki Bertens in straight sets. She then met the German No. 1 Angelique Kerber and once again, she caused a massive upset by knocking her out with 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
This is, by far, the best performance by Mertens in a long time. While she has achieved a lot as a doubles player, it is certainly great to see her do the same as on the singles circuit too. In addition to winning three titles last year, she also was a semifinalist in the WTA San Jose and reached the fourth round at the US Open.
Halep v Mertens Predictions & Tips
Halep is going to start this match as the favourite. However, given the way Mertens is playing, there is a very good possibility that it can go either way. It is well known that Halep is not immune to underdogs and the Belgian can certainly give her adversary a run for her money. All in all, we have a great fixture here.
Unibet are offering 7/20 for Halep to win this one and 9/4 for Mertens to defeat the top seed.
You can watch & bet on Simona Halep v Elise Mertens on Saturday, February 16. The match will be held after 6 pm local time.
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