In a semifinal lineup of four top-10 women, two minor upsets set up a final between the world No. 9 from Germany and the world No. 10 from Romania.  Whereas Angelique Kerber has won only three titles in her career, Simona Halep has won six titles in the last nine months.

It didn't take long for Halep to adjust to her newfound status as a member of the WTA elite.  She cracked the top 10 for the first time at the Australian Open, where she reached the quarterfinals, and then promptly lost her next match at an indoor tournament in Paris.  A post-breakthrough swoon hovered on the horizon, but Halep curbed any such thoughts by charging to the first Premier Five final of her career.  She routed world No. 7 Sara Errani in the quarterfinals and dispatched world No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets in the semifinal.  That match featured 11 service breaks in 20 sets, not surprising for two small players with keen reflexes and modest serves.  What was somewhat surprising, on the other hand, was Halep's ability to turn around what had been a disastrous hard-court matchup for her.  In four previous hard-court sets against Radwanska, she had won seven total games.  This victory thus showed more than any other in her week that the new version of Simona Halep is here to stay.

In some ways, Kerber can relate to Halep's sudden breakthrough from a player outside the top 50 last spring to a contender for some of the sport's biggest prizes.  Less than three years ago, the left-handed German was essentially unknown as she clung to a perch barely inside the top 100.  A shocking US Open semifinal run changed all that, and Kerber now is a familiar resident of the top 10.  Yet she has won just three titles during that span, all at relatively small tournaments on indoor hard courts.  Kerber will hold the advantage of experience over Halep, having contested a Premier Five final already at CIncinnati in 2012.  That experience did not unfold well for her, however, as she collapsed against Li Na to lose in three sets after holding a 6-1 3-1 lead.  A solid victory on Saturday over the eighth-ranked Jelena Jankovic marked her best win of the year so far, and these somewhat slow hard courts in Doha might favor her counterpunching over Halep's aggression.

This unlikely pair has compiled no history at the WTA level.  They met at a Challenger event on an indoor hard cour five years ago, Halep prevailing in three tight sets, but that result bears little if any relevance to two women who scarcely resemble their 2009 selves.  The Premier Five final in Doha thus will break new ground, appropriate for a tournament that lacked three superstars from the outset in Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, and Maria Sharapova.  While the smart money said that Li Na or Radwanska would exploit their absence, it will be a relative newcomer to the elite who will capture the first marquee non-major title of 2014.