China Open – Jelena Ostapenko stuns No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula in upset to reach last-eight of WTA Tour event

Jelena Ostapenko defeated Jessica Pegula, the No. 4 seed, 6-4 6-2, to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the China Open on Wednesday.

It marked the Latvian’s second top-five win of the season and her second win over Pegula, her first being back in 2015 in Quebec City.

After initially falling behind with an early break in the first set, Ostapenko seized control of the match against the American, displaying dominance from the baseline. Despite facing a 3-2 deficit after being broken, Ostapenko soon found her rhythm, winning the first set after fighting back to deuce when down 40-0 and taking advantage of Pegula’s double-fault on set point.

The No. 13 seed started the second set with a boost of self-assurance, quickly gaining a lead to see out her victory in 78 minutes against Pegula, who seemingly struggled with the intensity, producing 12 unforced errors, and having a first-serve percentage of 51%.

“I think I always play quite well in China,” Ostapenko said after her victory. “Finally, tournaments are back here and with a lot of fans, which I like a lot.

“I think after the US Open I had a little bit more confidence and I had really good preparation before the US Open. I felt like some matches, even during the year, they were close matches. I was losing them but they were very close.

“I felt like at some point they have to go my way. It’s working now. I think there were a few important games in the first set, especially at 5-4 when it was 40-0 on her serve.

“I was trying to stay in the game and to fight for every point. After I won that first set, I think in the beginning of the second set, I started pretty confident. Just in general, I think I played well but it was not easy because the court was very slow and the rallies were super long.

“I felt the court is a bit slower than other tournaments. I felt like if you go for very dangerous shots it didn’t really work on these courts,” she added.

“So I tried to open the point up and when I had the chance, just to finish it. Playing more angles worked pretty well.”

Ostapenko will next face the winner of the match between Russian Liudmila Samsonova and Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the last eight.