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Jelena Ostapenko has withdrawn from the Wuhan Open doubles quarter-final before going on to reach the semi-finals of the singles draw. Ostapenko had been partnered with Hsieh Su-wei at the event in China, and they were due to face Cristina Bucsa and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the last-eight encounter. However, after seemingly opting to focus on her singles campaign instead, Ostapenko pulled out of the doubles match. In the coming hours, she will face Sonay Kartal in the semi-final on Saturday in Wuhan.
Part of the reasoning behind the move from Ostapenko is likely to be a minor injury concern for the Latvian. The 29-year-old is dealing with an issue in her arm and therefore may believe that playing twice, including the singles quarter-final against Diana Shnaider, in one day wouldn’t be a wise move.
It hasn’t stopped her from dancing her way through the singles competition, with Ostapenko having reached her 10th WTA 1000 semi-final. She’s found particular success in Asia, as seven of those final-four runs have come in that part of the world, including now two in Wuhan itself.
Reacting to the win, she said: “Thank you so much for your support, sorry I lost my voice a little bit. She was playing great, I was just fighting like all of the other matches. Try to stay in the match. Thank you so much for your support.”
Adding: “I enjoy it [the crowd] so much. I know I can be a little bit emotional on the court; I need this connection with the fans. I hope you guys like it, in China the fans are great, I’m super grateful to have them supporting me.”
Ostapenko’s next opponent has enjoyed a resurgence of her own, with Kartal having not played for six months due to a back injury. She came through a testing clash against world No.6 Elina Svitolina to secure a first-ever WTA 1000 semi-final appearance.
Speaking post-match, Kartal remarked: "I didn't expect to be back at this level this quickly – I don't think many people did. I knew it would be a tough choice. I didn't know how I was going to be on the match court – it's very easy to train well but the match scenario is completely different.
"I decided to throw myself in the deep end and play the best players in the world. It's worked out good so far. The risk has paid off."
In the other semi-final, Maja Chwalinska will play Iga Swiatek.
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