Ostapenko Aims for First Career Final in Wuhan
Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko meets Britain's Sonay Kartal in the semifinal of the Wuhan WTA tennis tournament. The winner will face Poland's Iga Swiatek or Maja Chwalinska in the final.
In the semifinal of the Wuhan WTA tennis tournament, Latvia's top player Jelena Ostapenko (world ranking 34th) will face Britain's number five Sonay Kartal (ranked 170th) on Centre Court. The winner will reach the final, where she will meet Poland's Iga Swiatek (ranked 9th) or her compatriot Maja Chwalinska (22nd). Ostapenko can secure her first final at this event.
The road to the semifinal
Ostapenko crushed Australia's Daria Kasatkina (82nd) 6-1, 6-1, beat American Jessica Pegula (4th) 2-6, 7-6, 6-3, defeated Canada's Leylah Fernandez (25th) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 and got past Diana Shnaider 7-6, 6-1.
Kartal, for her part, beat Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina (48th) 7-5, 6-3, Switzerland's Belinda Bencic (12th) 6-0, 7-5, Italy's Jasmine Paolini (33rd) 6-2, 6-0 and Ukraine's Elina Svitolina (6th) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
Statistics and experience
The 29-year-old Ostapenko has won nine WTA tournaments, including the Stuttgart WTA 500 clay-court final last April. She also holds the 2017 French Open title and reached the Wimbledon semifinal in 2018. This season her record stands at 27 wins and 20 losses. She is playing in Wuhan for the fifth time, and her best result so far was a semifinal in 2017.
Kartal, who will soon turn 25, once ranked 44th in the world and has won one significant title. This year she has 18 wins and 8 losses, and she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon. This is her first appearance in Wuhan. A back injury kept her out for six months this season, and this is her second tournament since returning.
Temperatures during the match could reach around 28 degrees.
