Jelena Ostapenko saved a match point to battle past Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and record her third straight victory over a Grand Slam champion.
After eliminating 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin and 2020 French Open titlist Iga Swiatek, world No.21 Jelena Ostapenko prevailed in a third-set tiebreak to beat two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 5-7 7-5 7-6(9) and make the semifinals of the WTA 500 tournament in Dubai.
The 2017 Roland Garros winner Ostapenko recovered from a set and a break down in the battle that lasted two hours and 39 minutes. The world No.25 Kvitova twice served for the match and had a 4-2 lead in the third-set tiebreak, before the Latvian prevailed and reached back-to-back semifinals for the first time since 2019.
The 24-year-old Ostapenko is projected to return to the Top 20 WTA rankings. For a place in the final, the unseeded player will face 2020 Dubai champion Simona Halep, who defeated eighth seed Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-3 in the Thursday’s quarterfinals.
How come ostapenko is wearing Nike now? I thought she had signed with DK ONE?
Cat, I updated that post. She did wear DK ONE during the Australian Swing, but it was apparently not a long-term deal.