World No.1 Garbiñe Muguruza survived a tough challenge from Magda Linette en route to a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 triumph in the third round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open. Muguruza needed two hours and three minutes to book a spot in the quarterfinals, where she will face Jelena Ostapenko. Muguruza looked headed for an easy win when she dominated the opening set by firing 10 minutes and conceding just three points.
However the world No. 88 Linette recovered in the second, getting her first service break and capitalizing on Muguruza’s eight unforced errors for a 5-0 lead.
In the final set, Muguruza showed her mettle as the top player in the world, breaking Linette in the sixth game for a 4-2 advantage. In the quarterfinals, Muguruza, the Wimbledon champion, will face French Open champion Ostapenko for a spot in the final four. The showdown between Muguruza and Ostapenko will be the first meeting in 2017 between any of this year’s Grand Slam champions.
The No. 8 Ostapenko, for her part, made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time but she needed three sets before eliminating qualifier, Monica Puig. Ostapenko raced to a 5-1 advantage in the final set but let it almost disappear as Puig broke her serve in the seventh game. Puig also overcame two break points to trim the lead to 5-3, before Ostapenko wrapped up the victory with a huge service winner.
Ostapenko is 0-2 against Muguruza.
Karolina Pliskova ousts home favorite
Third seed Karolina Pliskova eliminated home favorite Wang Qiang in two sets to reach the quarterfinals. Pliskova, a former world No. 1, broke serve four times as she spoiled Wang’s attempt to become the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals of the event in 48 minutes.
The world No. 4 Pliskova hit 23 winners to just seven unforced errors while keeping Wang at bay with her power and accuracy from the baseline.
In the second set, Pliskova underscored her domination of Wang as she broke serve twice more and won 20 of the last 22 points to cruise to the last eight against unseeded Ashleigh Barty, a 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 winner over No.9 seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
Barty, fresh from her second Top 10 win of the season against Johanna Konta in the second round, used a decisive break in the fifth game of the final set to help claim victory and cruise to her fifth quarterfinal of the year. Pliskova and Barty have split their two career meetings on grass.
Caroline Garcia reaches quarterfinals
Caroline Garcia defeated No.7 seed Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3, 7-5, to make it to the last eight of the tournament, where she will face Russian Ekaterina Makarova. With the win, Garcia has reached the quarterfinals or better in seven of her last 11 tournaments.
