TENNIS NEWS - World No 1 Garbine Muguruza powered her way into the quarterfinals at the Wuhan Open on Wednesday, defeating Poland's Magda Linette 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 to set up a mouth-watering clash with Jelena Ostapenko.
The Spaniard dominated the first set, but performed meekly in the second at a hot and humid tournament that has seen all but three seeds crash out.
The 23-year-old No 1 seed suffered with a poor forehand in the third set but broke her opponent at 4-5 to clinch the third-round tie.
"Today I had a very tough match and had to go out there and fight a lot. The second set didn't go my way at all," she told a post-match press conference.
But she said she was "looking forward" to her quarterfinal clash with Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open winner, after the Latvian overpowered Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Ostapenko has now won 20 of her last 23 three-set matches, according to the WTA.
"I like to play these matches where the player is playing the best (that they can)," Muguruza added. "It's going to be a good quarterfinal."
Earlier in the day Agnieszka Radwanska suffered an upset 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Australia's Ashleigh Barty.
Radwanska, seeded nine, looked strong in the first set but lost seven consecutive games to allow her opponent – ranked 37 in the world – to take a lead in the third.
The 28-year-old Pole said she was still recovering from a virus that knocked her out of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
