Ostapenko and Hsieh face Dabrowski and Stefani for a WTA Finals semi-final place

Jeļena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei play their decisive group match in the doubles at the season-ending tournament. Their opponents are Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Luisa Stefani of Brazil, the only team in Group 1 yet to lose.

When to watch

Friday’s play at Indian Wells starts at 12:00 local time, or 22:00 in Latvia. Two singles matches come first: Mirra Andreeva against Karolína Muchová, then Aryna Sabalenka against Elina Svitolina, with the winner taking the last place in the singles semi-finals. That means Ostapenko and Hsieh will not start until the early hours of Saturday in Latvia; the exact time depends on how long the earlier matches last.

The group so far

• Dabrowski/Stefani: two wins, 4-1 in sets.
• Ostapenko/Hsieh: one win, one defeat, 3-2.
• Guo/Mladenovic: one win, one defeat, 3-3.
• Mertens/Zhang: two defeats, eliminated.

The top two teams reach the semi-finals. After the last round three teams could finish level on wins, in which case places are decided on the percentage of sets and, if needed, games won.

What each result means

A straight-sets win guarantees Ostapenko and Hsieh a semi-final place. If they win in three sets, the group’s other match also matters: if Guo Hanyu and Kristina Mladenovic beat Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai without dropping a set, all three teams will have the same set record.

If they lose, the Latvian and her partner will need Guo and Mladenovic to lose as well. Three teams would then have one win each, and second place would be decided on sets.

Ostapenko and Hsieh started the tournament with a painful defeat by Guo and Mladenovic, 6-3, 1-6, 10-12 in the deciding match tie-break, in which they led 8-2 and missed four match points. In their second match they beat Mertens and Zhang 7-5, 6-3. Last year Ostapenko and Hsieh reached the semi-finals of this event.