Foto: BB.LV / Остапенко
On Saturday, October 17, Latvian tennis player Alena Ostapenko finished her singles performance at the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan, losing the semifinal match to British player Sonay Kartal. Ostapenko, ranked 34th in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), lost to the world’s 170th player in two tense sets — 6:7 (9:11), 6:7 (5:7), reports LETA agency. Despite the defeat, the Latvian athlete earned 390 ranking points for reaching the semifinals. ## Ostapenko couldn't maintain her advantage in the first set The start of the match was in favor of the Latvian tennis player. Ostapenko confidently led 4:1, but Kartal managed to come back and equalized the score — 5:5. Then both players lost their service games, and the fate of the set was decided in a tiebreak. The battle continued until the score was 9:9, after which the British player won two decisive points — 11:9. ## In the second set, Ostapenko failed to convert three set points The second set began in a similar scenario. Ostapenko won the first three games and led 3:0, but the British tennis player managed to fight back again. Kartal equalized the score — 4:4. In the tenth game, Ostapenko had the opportunity to finish the set in her favor, but she failed to convert the set point. At 6:5, the Latvian tennis player had two more set points, but her opponent saved both and sent the set to a tiebreak. In the crucial moments, Ostapenko lost three rallies on her serve and lost the tiebreak 5:7. Thus, the match ended with Kartal's victory in two sets, although in each of them the Latvian athlete had a significant advantage. ## On her way to the semifinals, Ostapenko defeated the fourth-ranked player in the world Despite the setback in the semifinals, the tournament in Wuhan became one of Ostapenko's most successful performances of the current season. In the first round, the Latvian tennis player defeated Australian Daria Kasatkina — 6:1, 6:1. In the second round, Ostapenko achieved a comeback victory over the world’s fourth-ranked player, American Jessica Pegula — 2:6, 7:6 (9:7), 6:3. She then defeated Canadian Leylah Fernandez — 6:1, 1:6, 6:4, and in the quarterfinals, she was stronger than Russian Diana Schneider, ranked 13th in the world — 7:6 (8:6), 6:1. ## For Kartal, this is her first WTA 1000 tournament final The British tennis player reached the semifinals of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time in her career and will now play in the final. Her path through the tournament draw was also challenging. Kartal consecutively defeated Ukrainian Angelina Kalinina, Swiss Belinda Bencic, Italian Jasmine Paolini, and the sixth-ranked player in the world, Elina Svitolina. Notably, the British player returned to competition only in September after a long break due to injury. In March, she was forced to withdraw from the tournament in Indian Wells and did not step on the court for several months. Before this match, Ostapenko and Kartal had met twice. Last year in Eastbourne, the Latvian athlete won, while at Wimbledon, the British player was stronger. ## Ostapenko also finished her performance in doubles In Wuhan, Ostapenko also participated in the doubles tournament alongside Taiwanese player Hsieh Su-wei. However, the duo did not make it to the quarterfinal match against Spanish Cristina Bucsa and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez. For reaching the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament, Ostapenko earned 215 ranking points. The Latvian tennis player competed in Wuhan for the fifth time. Previously, her best result here was also a semifinal, achieved in 2017. The tournament in Wuhan is held on hard courts and is the last WTA 1000 event of the season.
