Canadian teen Marina Stakusic upsets top seed to reach quarterfinals at Guadalajara Open
CBC
Canada's Marina Stakusic is moving on to the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open in Mexico.
The Mississauga, Ont., native defeated the tournament top seed, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Ostapenko is ranked 12th in the world and represents the 19-year-old Stakusic's first victory over a top-20 player.
The Canadian trailed 4-0 in the third set and fought off the four match points when she was down 5-3.
Stakusic won five of the next six games to even it up before exchanging games to force a tiebreaker, where she took complete control to win the match.
"I'm happy to pull through, it was a rollercoaster, I got a chance to close it in the second and I didn't, but I'm happy with the win and excited with the quarters," said Stakusic, who got into the main draw on a wild card.
WATCH | Stakusic advances to her 1st-ever WTA quarterfinal:
Stakusic had five aces with 17 double faults in the three-hour, four-minute match.
However, she converted eight of her 18 break-point opportunities to help her reach the first WTA quarterfinal match of her career.
The Canadian, ranked 155th, is the first wild-card entry to reach the quarterfinals in Guadalajara. Stakusic defeated Olympic semifinalist Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round and will next play fifth-seeded Magdalena Frech.
The tournament is being played on hard courts at the Complejo Panamericano de Tenis, in Guadalajara.
Stakusic was a key part of Canada's Billie Jean King Cup-winning team last fall, delivering three key victories, including a stunning upset of 43rd-ranked Martina Trevisan in the final against Italy.
