Ostapenko One Step Away from Final in Wuhan

On Saturday, Alena Ostapenko will play her semifinal match at the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan against British tennis player Sonay Kartal. The match will take place on the central court and will start no earlier than 12:00 Latvian time. According to LETA, Ostapenko is ranked 34th in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, while her opponent is in 170th place. The winner of the match will advance to the final, where she will face one of the representatives from Poland — Iga Swiatek, the ninth-ranked player in the world, or Maiya Chwalinska, who is ranked 22nd. ## Ostapenko and Kartal Have Already Exchanged Wins The two tennis players have met twice on the professional court, and the head-to-head record is currently tied at 1:1. In June 2025, Ostapenko defeated the British player at the grass tournament in Eastbourne with a score of 6:3, 7:6 (7:2). However, soon after, Kartal avenged her loss at Wimbledon, beating the Latvian player in the first round — 7:5, 2:6, 6:2. The upcoming semifinal will be their first meeting at the tournament in Wuhan. ## How Ostapenko Reached the Semifinal The Latvian tennis player's path to the top four included several challenging matches. In the first round, Ostapenko confidently defeated Australia’s Daria Kasatkina — 6:1, 6:1. She then followed up with a victory over the fourth-ranked player in the world, American Jessica Pegula. After losing the first set, Ostapenko managed to turn the match around and won with a score of 2:6, 7:6 (9:7), 6:3. In the round of 16, the Latvian athlete overcame Canadian Leylah Fernandez — 6:1, 1:6, 6:4. In the quarterfinals, Ostapenko defeated Russian Diana Schneider in two sets — 7:6 (8:6), 6:1. This is already Ostapenko's second appearance in the semifinals of the tournament in Wuhan. She first reached this stage in 2017. ## Kartal Returned from Injury and Surprised the Favorites For 24-year-old Sonay Kartal, this tournament has been one of the most successful of her career. The British player has reached the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time, although she was recently forced to take a long break due to a back injury. After a six-month absence, Kartal returned to the court only in September. The tournament in Wuhan is her third event since her return. On her way to the semifinals, the British player successively defeated Ukrainian Angelina Kalinina (7:5, 6:3), Swiss Belinda Bencic (6:0, 7:5), and Italian Jasmine Paolini (6:2, 6:0). In the quarterfinals, Kartal defeated the sixth-ranked player in the world, Elina Svitolina — 6:2, 2:6, 6:4. Despite her current 170th place in the rankings, the British athlete has previously been among the top 50 tennis players in the world. She also has one WTA 250 title to her name. Thus, Ostapenko will face an opponent who is quickly regaining form after injury and has already proven her ability to defeat higher-ranked players. ## Ostapenko Concluded Her Doubles Participation At the tournament in Wuhan, the Latvian tennis player also competed in doubles with Taiwanese player Hsieh Su-wei. However, the duo did not advance to the quarterfinal match against Spaniard Cristina Bucsa and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez. For reaching the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament, Ostapenko earned 215 ranking points. In singles, she received 390 points for reaching the semifinals. The tournament in Wuhan is held on hard courts and is the last WTA 1000 event of the current season.