WTA Qatar Open 2023 Day 5: Women's singles predictions ft. Iga Swiatek vs Veronika Kudermetova, Maria Sakkari vs Jessica Pegula 

Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Veronika Kudermetova, and Maria Sakkari — the field at the Qatar Open 2023 has been filtered down to the final four.

All four women have come through contrasting wins, beginning with Swiatek's walkover to Sakkari's marathon tussle against Caroline Gracia. They now find themselves only two wins away from a maiden title of the season.

Day 5 will see two semifinal showdowns unfold on the Center Court at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, with Pegula and Sakkari taking to the court first. Here, we take a look at what the Qatar Open 2023 last-four contests may have in store:

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Qatar Open 2023 Semifinal 1: Maria Sakkari vs Jessica Pegula

Maria Sakkar at the Qatar Open

Maria Sakkari and Jessica Pegula were both up against big strikers of the tennis ball in their respective quarterfinal contests, but both women managed to step up when it really mattered to close out big wins.

First out on court, Pegula scored a comfortable-looking 6-3, 6-2 win over her opponent Beatriz Haddad Maia. The result was in stark contrast to her second-round win over Jelena Ostapenko, where she was pushed to 7-5 in the decider. The American's performance in the last match would have boosted her confidence heading into the last-four.

For Sakkari, meanwhile, things went down to the wire as she needed a winner-takes-all tiebreaker late in the match to book her spot in the Qatar Open semifinals. The Greek did, however, manage to edge Caroline Garcia 7-5 in the tiebreaker after two hours and 41 minutes.

Both women have managed to stay largely stable on serve and landing the first delivery, as has been all week, will once again be key to their success. The low-bouncing courts in Doha are more to Pegula's liking and if she can dig her teeth into some of her opponent's service games, she has a good chance of running away with this one.

Prediction: Pegula to win in two tight sets

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Qatar Open 2023 Semifinal 2: Iga Swiatek vs Veronika Kudermetova

Veronika Kudermetova at the Qatar Open

Iga Swiatek has dropped only one game en-route to the semifinals in Doha. In an even more mind-boggling figure, her time on court has totalled only 53 minutes. That, however, comes courtesy of a bye in the opening round and a quick dismissal of Danielle Collins in the next, followed by a walkover in the quarterfinals.

In contrast, her opponent Veronika Kudermetova has been tested at nearly every step of the way. She has, however, given a good account of herself with back-to-back victories over Grand Slam champions, namely Barbora Krejcikova and Sofia Kenin, before following it up with an upset win over Coco Gauff.

The Russian's big game is tailor-made for the surface and her battle-hardened self will be better prepared for a fight in the semis than Swiatek, who has barely had to work all week. That said, the World No. 1 looked on song in the match against Collins. A win won't come easy, but between the quick courts and her serve and backhand firing, Kudermetova may just have the right combination of things hinting towards a victory.

Prediction: Kudermetova to win in three sets