Sonay Kartal vs Jelena Ostapenko — Semifinal — Wuhan Open. Kartal won 7-6, 7-6.

Sonay Kartal is into the Wuhan Open final after a two-tiebreak semifinal win over Jelena Ostapenko. The 24-year-old Briton is ranked WTA No. 129, nearly 100 places below Ostapenko. Even so, the betting market made her a slight favorite at 53 percent. Ostapenko started both sets ahead. In the first, she broke in the first and fifth games to lead 4-1. Kartal broke back in game 6 and again in game 10 to level at 5-5. Ostapenko broke for 6-5, and Kartal answered immediately in game 12 to force a tiebreak, which she won 13-11. The second set followed a similar pattern. Ostapenko broke for 2-0 before Kartal broke back in game 7 for 3-4. Kartal then won the tiebreak 7-5, and Ostapenko saved one match point along the way. The match was level on paper: each player won 87 points and 12 games. Kartal converted all four of her break points, while Ostapenko converted four of eight. Ostapenko struck 48 winners against Kartal's 13, but she also made 38 unforced errors to Kartal's 12. She hit seven double faults and won only 38 percent of her second-serve points. The win extends an eventful week for Kartal. She also beat Belinda Bencic, lost only two games to Jasmine Paolini and needed three sets to get past Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals. She now plays for the title.