Jelena rallies to beat Garbine in Wuhan

WUHAN: Jelena Ostapenko overcame a sluggish start to stun world number one Garbine Muguruza in the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open on Thursday and the Latvian suggested she plays more confidently with less time to prepare.

The French Open champion, who won the Korea Open title in Seoul last week, rallied from a set down to beat the Spaniard 1-6 6-3 6-2 and set up a last-four encounter against in-form Australian Ashleigh Barty.

By registering her first win over the Wimbledon champion, Ostapenko moved a step closer to her third title of the year and the 20-year-old eighth seed felt that playing in back-to-back tournaments had brought out the best in her.

“Sometimes it’s actually even better when you don’t have that much time to prepare,” she told the WTA website( wt ate nnis.com) after her victory over the top seed.

“When you come from another tournament, especially I won the tournament, I’m more confident.”

Muguruza, who took a medical timeout before the final set to treat a thigh injury, said she was undone by Ostapenko’s all-out attacking game.

Ostapenko also expects a tough fight from Barty, who upset former world number one Karolina Pliskova 4-6 7-6(3) 76(2) in another last-eight clash.

In the other semi-final encounter on Friday, Greece’s Maria Sakkari takes on Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia. Reuters