Jelena Ostapenko reaches the quarters in Wuhan after a hard-fought battle.

The French Open champion had to overcome an always combative Monica Puig to beat the Puerto Rican 6-2 3-6 6-3. There was a big thriller in the decider when it seemed as Jelena couldn’t capitalize on a 5-1 lead. The Latvian lost 2 consecutive games after scoring just 2 points (5-3); later in the 9th game, she had to save 2 break points. Eventually, Ostapenko managed to hold and win the match.

It’s a great win. OSTAPENKO

Soon after the match, Jelena commented

“It’s a great win today for me. It was a very tough match, and Monica was playing very well, but I’m really happy to win the match. I was serving very well the whole match, had a lot of aces, but in the last two games, I couldn’t really serve for the match.

It was a little more in my mind because I was serving well today. Sometimes I think I made the wrong decisions, so I just wanted to calm down and make the right decision next time.”

No.8 seed Ostapenko ends a run of four games to give herself a chance in set two #WuhanOpen! pic.twitter.com/5hlMQXNXnb

— WTA (@WTA) September 27, 2017

Next vs. Muguruza

Jelena will face the world no.1, Garbine Muguruza for a place in the final. The head to head is 2-0 for the Spaniard, but they have always played on clay. This match is on a hard court and it will have different dynamics.