Wuhan, Oct 16 — Jelena Ostapenko staged a stellar comeback to defeat Diana Shnaider 7-6 (6), 6-1 in the first quarterfinal of the Wuhan Open at the Dongfeng Voyah Centre Court to march into the semifinals of the event here on Friday.
Ostapenko had to save two set points in an action-packed first set and had to rally back from a break down before cruising past the 11th seed in the second set to register a win in one hour and 37 minutes. This is now her second semifinal appearance in WTA 1000 events in 2026 following her run to the last four in Doha. This is also her second semifinal in Wuhan after 2017.
The Latvian unseeded star was 2-5 down in the first set as she lost her serve in a crucial sixth game. She held her serve to keep things 3-5 but needed to break Shnaider to stay alive.
Ostapenko then saved a set point in the ninth game on Shnaider's serve and then again on her serve in a 10-minute marathon game to level things 5-5. The opening set went right down the wire as the Latvian unleashed strong winners and bagged the tie-break 8-6.
It was comparatively smooth sailing for Ostapenko in the second set as she led 3-0 in no time with a break up. That became 5-1 quickly as she broke the Russian in the sixth game before holding her serve to win the second set in just 29 minutes.
She fired 32 winners in the match, as compared to Shnaider's eight and also landed seven aces, while the 11th seed could not find one. Ostapenko also committed 30 unforced errors and would have to be careful when she takes the stage in the semis.
Earlier, Ostapenko defeated Leylah Fernandez in the round of 16 and had also stunned second-seed and the previous year's runner-up Jessica Pegula in the round of 32.