Safarova reaches Qatar final for first time

DOHA: Wimbledon semi-finalist Lucie Safarova breezed through to her first ever Qatar Open final, comprehensively beating Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets on Friday.

Left-hander Safarova won 6-3, 6-2 in a semi-final which she totally dominated and lasted little over an hour.

The Czech broke the Spaniard´s serve in the second game of the first set and was rarely troubled by her opponent.

She dropped her serve just once, in the seventh game of the first set, but immediately broke back to restore her advantage and served out for the set straight after.

A demoralised Suarez Navarro, who had knocked out number one seed Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals, had few answers to the Czech´s powerful groundstrokes and ended up losing tamely.

It was only the third time the pair had played each other, Safarova also winning the two previous encounters.

It means Safarova, 28, who reached the Wimbledon singles semi-finals in 2014, could play Venus Williams in the final just a week after beating her in straight sets in the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Williams plays Victoria Azarenka later on Friday.

Safarova said she "didn´t mind" who she played in Saturday´s final. (AFP)