Can Elise Mertens complete a banner week in Doha with win over Halep?

Simona Halep and Elise Mertens will face off for the Qatar Total Open title in Doha on Saturday after battling to three-set semifinal victories at the WTA Premier-level tournament on Friday.

Halep was the first to advance, rallying from 4-1 down in the third set—and fighting off three points to avoid a 5-1 deficit—to edge one of her toughest match-ups on tour, Elina Svitolina, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Svitolina had won the pair’s last three meetings, and four of their last five.

"She played amazing. She moved very well. She hit the ball strong. She didn't miss much," Halep said. "So I think was a very high level of tennis today, and I'm really proud that I could win the match against her."

Mertens faced Angelique Kerber in the second semifinal, and the two were locked at 1-all in the third set. But Mertens ran away with it from there, reeling off the last five games to defeat the No. 6-ranked German in their first career meeting, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

Mertens, who had already beaten No. 8-ranked Kiki Bertens in the quarterfinals, has now beaten multiple Top 10 players at the same tournament for the first time in her blossoming career.

The difficulty level will only increase for the No. 21-ranked Mertens, though, as she faces the third-ranked Halep for the title. The Belgian has beaten a Top 3 player before (a No. 3-ranked Sloane Stephens last year in Cincinnati), but Halep has won both of their previous meetings fairly handily, at clay court tournaments last year in Madrid (6-0, 6-3) and Roland Garros (6-2, 6-1).

Halep is 18-15 in her career in WTA tour finals—including 10-13 in finals at the Premier level or higher—while Mertens is 1-4 in her career in WTA finals, all five of those coming at the International level.

After the pair’s last meeting at Roland Garros, Mertens only had praise for Halep.

“She’s a great player—mentally she’s there and when she attacks, the point’s finished. But she’s also a great defender,” the Belgian said. “She played at a level that was really too high for me, an excellent level. But it’s also very good for me because it really highlights when I have to improve on.”

Win or lose, both players will be making notable moves back up the rankings.

Halep, who fell from No. 1 to No. 3 after the Australian Open, will become No. 2 regardless of how she fares in the final. She'll surpass current No. 2 Petra Kvitova and remain behind No. 1 Naomi Osaka.

Mertens dropped out of the Top 20 after losing in the third round of the Australian Open (she was a semifinalist there last year), but by reaching the final in Doha she’ll bounce back into the Top 20.

ATP Rotterdam (Mon - Sun 2/11 - 2/17)

•    See Marin Cilic, Kei Nishikori, Karen Khachanov and Stefanos Tsitsipas live on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Monday 2/11 at 6:30 am ET.

ATP New York (Mon - Sun 2/11 - 2/17)

•    Watch Frances Tiafoe, John Isner and Alex de Minaur live from New York starting Monday 2/11 at 11:00 am ET

WTA Doha (Mon - Sat 2/11 - 2/16)

•    Starting Monday 2/11 at 7:30 am ET, catch live coverage of the Qatar Total Open featuring Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova and Angelique Kerber.

ATP Buenos Aires (Mon - Sun 2/11 - 2/17)

•    Catch the action from the Argentina Open including Dominic Thiem, Fabio Fognini and Diego Schwartzman. Live coverage begins on Tennis Channel Plus on Monday 2/11 at 12:30 pm ET

USTA College Match Day 3 Lake Nona - (Sat - 2/16)

•    Tennis Channel Plus features live coverage of USTA College Matches in Lake Nona on Saturday 2/16 4:00 pm ET