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 |Â 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.