By Adrianna Outlaw | Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Jelena Ostapenko won 11 of the last 12 games upsetting fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, to reach the Doha quarterfinals.
Photo credit: Qatar Tennis Federation
Jelena Ostapenko lost her first set lead, but never lost her sense of belief.
Straddling the baseline to take the ball on the rise, Ostapenko reeled off 10 of the last 11 games to spark a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 victory over fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova at the Qatar Total Open in Doha.
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The 18-year-old Latvian used a seven-game streak to take charge of the match as an erratic Kvitova could not find her range.
The 88th-ranked Ostapenko, who arrived in Doha with one main-draw win on the season, has now beaten two former Grand Slam champions in succession following her 7-6 (5), 6-0 victory over two-time former Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova joins top-seeded Angelique Kerber and second-seeded Simona Halep in tumbling from the field.
No. 3-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Monica Niculescu, 7-5, 6-1, to reach the quarterfinals. Radwanska will play ninth-seeded Roberta Vinci for a spot in the semifinals.
"Agnieszka is a great player, so intelligent," Vinci said. "Tomorrow, I will try my best. It will be difficult, but I will try."
Ostapenko's victory vaults her into an all-unseeded quarterfinal against a streaking Saisai Zheng.
Zheng, who toppled Kerber on Monday, backed up her biggest singles win sweeping wild card Genie Bouchard, 7-6 (1), 6-1.
Zheng served 79 percent in the match and fought off six of nine break points.
The 73rd-ranked Zheng has won six of her last seven matches with her lone loss in that span coming to Sara Errani last week in Dubai. Errani went on to win the Dubai title.
Ostapenko earned a double break lead for a 3-0 in the decider. Kvitova broke back on an error for 1-3, snapping a run of seven straight games by Ostapenko.
A running forehand gave Ostapenko double break point and when Kvitova flagged a forehand into net, she regained the double break for 4-1.
A weary slice into the bottom of the net gave Ostapenko double match point after one hour, 56 minutes of play. Kvitova netted a forehand as the Latvian completed the biggest win of her career.
No. 8-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro dismissed 11th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2, 6-2, in 88 minutes. Suarez Navarro will face Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals.
Vesnina broke serve nine times in a 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, victory over 13th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki. That came a day after Vesnina upset second-seeded Simona Halep.