Ostapenko Saves Match Points to Oust Pegula in Wuhan

Jelena Ostapenko was three times a point from defeat in the second set and ended the night with a win over the second seed. The Latvian beat #2 Jessica Pegula 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 on Center Court in two hours, 23 minutes to reach the third round of the Wuhan Open, in a day session that also brought a comeback by #6 Karolína Muchová and an upset of #9 Belinda Bencic.

Pegula, playing her first match in more than a month after skipping Singapore and Beijing, won the first set in 31 minutes without facing a break point. The second set was more chaotic, with the players trading a pair of breaks each before Pegula held three match points that Ostapenko saved on the way to taking the tiebreak. Ostapenko then took over, hitting four aces and breaking three times in the third set while leading the winner count 15-3. She finished with 45 winners. Ostapenko said she played through arm pain after taking a painkiller and “was fighting for every single point.” Pegula, last year’s Wuhan finalist, had won four of their six previous meetings. Ostapenko meets Leylah Fernandez or Han Shi next.