Jelena Ostapenko has withdrawn from the Wuhan Open doubles quarter-final, choosing to focus on her singles campaign, where she has advanced to the semi-finals. The Latvian was partnered with Hsieh Su-wei and was due to face Cristina Bucsa and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the last eight, but pulled out of that match.
Injury concern and scheduling
The 29-year-old is dealing with an arm issue, which likely influenced the decision. Playing twice in one day, including the singles quarter-final against Diana Shnaider, was considered unwise given the injury. Ostapenko has reached her 10th WTA 1000 semi-final, with seven of those runs coming in Asia, including two in Wuhan.
After her win, Ostapenko said: “Thank you so much for your support, sorry I lost my voice a little bit. She was playing great, I was just fighting like all of the other matches. Try to stay in the match. Thank you so much for your support.”
Next opponent and other semi-final
Ostapenko will face Sonay Kartal, who has not played for six months due to a back injury. Kartal beat world No. 6 Elina Svitolina to reach her first WTA 1000 semi-final. She said: "I didn't expect to be back at this level this quickly – I don't think many people did. I knew it would be a tough choice. I didn't know how I was going to be on the match court – it's very easy to train well but the match scenario is completely different. I decided to throw myself in the deep end and play the best players in the world. It's worked out good so far. The risk has paid off."
In the other semi-final, Maja Chwalinska will play Iga Swiatek.
