Friday, Pegula was able to tame the wind to master Maria Sakkari (7th) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

Swiatek blew even harder than Eole to sweep Veronika Kudermetova (11th) 6-0, 6-1.

"I feel very good. The playing conditions were complicated but I was very solid", welcomed the Pole.

Defending champion, she did not leave a shadow of hope to her Russian opponent who only lasted 56 minutes.

By winning the tournament last year, then ranked in the upper category of the WTA 1000, Swiatek had launched a phenomenal series of 37 matches won with six titles in passing (Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome and Roland-Garros). .

The series was only stopped in the third round of Wimbledon by the Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet.

Eliminated in the round of 16 at the Australian Open by future finalist Elena Rybakina, Swiatek will aim for the twelfth title of her career on Saturday.

She will be particularly fresh since, exempted from the first round, she had taken 53 minutes to dismiss Danielle Collins in the 1/8th finals and had benefited from Belinda Bencic's package in the quarter, before crushing Kudermetova in the half.

His next opponent, Pegula, seems able to offer him greater resistance.

"She plays very well, agreed Swiatek. We'll see, I'll come to play my best tennis".

The American, in search of the third title of her career, suffered much more from the wind, however equivalent during the two meetings.

"These are the most difficult conditions in which I have played. The main thing was not to get frustrated", underlined the Floridian who will celebrate her 29th birthday next Friday.

Unlike Swiatek, whose adversity was reduced to its simplest expression during her Qatar career, Pegula had to save two match points in the second round against Jelena Ostapenko before aborting Sakkari's comeback in the half.

Faced with the Greek, outgoing semi-finalist, the American was indeed better able to adapt her game to the very disturbing wind: she did not play spectacular tennis, but the absence of risk-taking paid off.

In the second set, Pegula led twice with a break lead, but Sakkari came back and, against the run of play, it was the Greek who scored the decisive break on her second set point.

American Jessica Pegula serving in the semi-final of the WTA Doha tournament on February 17, 2023 in Doha © KARIM JAAFAR / AFP

Sakkari resisted again at the very start of the last round before being overtaken by the quarter-finalist of the last Australian Open.

Pegula was also due to play the doubles final on Friday evening associated with her compatriot Coco Gauff against the pair made up of Latvian Jelena Ostapenko and Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok.

© 2023 AFP