Latvia in the spotlight as Volvo Car Open singles quarterfinals are set

Jelena Ostapenko (photo by Daniel Ward)

There are only eight players remaining in the singles draw in Charleston, and two of them represent Latvia, a country that has not, historically, been dominant in professional tennis.

One of those players is Jelena Ostapenko, who turned pro five years ago, and who is ranked number 66 in the world. Ostapenko reached the Doha final last year, taking out Svetlana Kuznetsova and Petra Kvitova along the way.

Also representing Latvia in Charleston is Anastaija Sevastova, who is enjoying a very good second tennis career. Sevastova retired from the sport in 2013 because she had to deal with so many injuries. In 2015, she returned, and proceeded to play her best tennis. She is currently ranked number 26 in the world, and reached her highest ranking (23) last month.

Here in the quarterfinal draw:

Anastasija Sevastova (photo by Daniel Ward)

Irina-Camelia Begu (10) vs. Daria Kasatkina
Anastasija Sevastova (8) vs. Laura Siegemund
Shelby Rogers vs. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (11)
Jelena Ostapenko vs. Caroline Wozniacki (5)

Wozniacki is the only former champion (2011) left in the draw. Other former champions who competed this year were Venus Williams (2004), Jelena Jankovic (2007), Sam Stosur (2010), and Andrea Petkovic (2014).