Top seed Garbine Muguruza recovered from a second-set lapse to beat Polish qualifier Magda Linette in their first career meeting and make the quarterfinals of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
The world No.1 Muguruza won the first set without facing a break point, pocketing two breaks of her own to confidently march to 6-2, but the world No.83 Linette greatly improved in the second set, which reflected in her 5-0 lead, and after a brief pause to dry the courts after a rain shower, Muguruza avoided an embarrassment by holding serve to love, but Linette responded by serving the set out without losing a point in the following game.
The 25-year-old Linette continued to put pressure on Muguruza in the decider, as the Spaniard had to save three break points to hold serve in the opening game, but the favorite finally took charge again by breaking her opponent’s serve for a 4-2 lead. Linette, trying to clinch her maiden Top 20 win in 14 tries, broke back right away, but after a stretch of five consecutive breaks of serve, Muguruza celebrated 6-2 1-6 6-4.
In the Wuhan quarterfinals, Muguruza will for the first time face eighth seed and fellow 2017 Grand Slam champion Jelena Ostapenko, who also overcame a mid-match slump to see off qualifier Monica Puig 6-2 3-6 6-3.
Garbi is really poised to finish the season as World No.1. Well deserved as she played fearlessly starting Wimbledon!