"No rhythm and lots of anxiety from Iga Swiatek" - Pam Shriver gives her verdict on Pole's poor match-up vs Jelena Ostapenko amid Qatar Open loss

Jelena Ostapenko cruised into the finals of the Qatar Open with a thoroughly dominant 6-3, 6-1 victory over World No. 2 Iga Swiatek. The win prompted former World No. 3 Pam Shriver to take to her social media to comment upon the Polish player's lack of rhythm in the match.

Ostapenko was able to exert so much pressure on her opponent that Swiatek smashed her racket into the ground after going down 0-3 in the second set. From that moment, the Latvian had mentally broken Swiatek - she'd led the contest from the very start, went on to break serve five times, and at one point in the match put together a six-game winning streak.

Pam Shriver remains a much-respected voice in the world game and took to her X account to lament Swiatek's inability to generate any rhythm in the match. She posted:

This Iga v Penko match up is same every time. Winners galore from Penko and no rhythm and lots of anxiety from Iga. It still has time to turn around but you feel is a march towards 5-0 head to head!

Shriver turned out to be correct regarding the 5-0 head-to-head record Ostapenko now enjoys over Swiatek - the result in Qatar has simply confirmed the Latvian's thorough dominance over her higher-rated opponent.

The pair first met in 2019 in Birmingham, with Ostapenko winning 6-0, 6-2; then she won again at Indian Wells in 2021, again in straight sets. They met in Dubai in 2022, with Ostapenko needing three sets to prevail. In their previous meeting at the 2023 US Open, Ostapenko won in three sets.

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Jelena Ostapenko progresses to the Qatar Open final with high expectations

Qatar TotalEnergies Open - Day Six - Source: Getty

Perhaps their highest-level encounter was at the US Open in 2023, where Ostapenko won 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. During their latest contest, there appeared to be little love lost between the two players, which Ostapenko might have worsened with her post-match interview where she claimed to have the Pole's number.

"I feel like this court has a special energy - I was pretty confident I could beat her - I know how to beat her. I just had to concentrate on myself. I'm so happy to be in the final," she said (via France24).

Ostapenko is a world-class player - she won the French Open in 2017 and reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2018. Her world ranking of 5 reflects her current form, as she has eight WTA tour singles titles and 10 doubles titles.

She's breezed through this year's Qatar event without losing a set. She's beaten Ao Ito 6-2, 6-1; Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(5), 7-5; Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2; and Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinal. Given how easily she defeated the World No. 2, she'll look forward to Sunday's final where she'll meet either Ekaterina Alexandrova or Amanda Anisimova, who are both unseeded.