Two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza fell short in her quarter-final match against French Open title holder Jelena Ostapenko at the Wuhan Open. The world No.1, who has had a stellar run this season, couldn't stop the Latvian's momentum as Ostapenko won the last six games in a row for a 1-6 6-3 6-2 victory. But the defeat will not affect Muguruza's top ranking, which the Spaniard admits was a childhood dream.

"It was my goal since I can remember. When I was a little girl, every time I had my birthday, I was blowing out the candles, I was dreaming maybe one day I'll be No.1 in the world. And to be able to achieve it, it's something that you didn't know is ever going to happen. It's a dream come true," said Muguruza.

Earlier this month, Muguruza entered the US Open with a chance to move the top of the WTA rankings. She beat Magdalena Rybarikova in a rematch of their Wimbledon semi-final to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the first time, where she lost to Petra Kvitová in straight sets.

Despite the defeat, Muguruza rose to world No.1 after Karolina Pliskova's loss to CoCo Vandeweghe in the quarterfinals, and became the 24th woman to achieve the ranking.

The Spaniard's strong season also includes her maiden Wimbledon title that was won by beating Venus Williams in straight sets to clinch her second major title. In doing so, she became the first player ever to defeat both Williams' sisters in Grand Slam finals.

"It has an extra value for me to play the Williams sisters in a final because that's a challenge, playing them, especially in a Grand Slam final," she said.

But the 23-year-old also endured her share of adversity this year, most notably at the French Open. Muguruza went to Roland Garros as the defending champion, but the Spaniard lost in the fourth round to home favorite Kristina Mladenovic in three sets. 

During the match, Muguruza had to face an extremely unfavorable crowd with the partisan spectators loudly celebrating her errors. In the post-match press conference, Muguruza broke down, but the Spaniard downplayed her reaction.

"The French crowd is always tough and when you are playing with a local it's even tougher, but you know it's just a normal moment. We as players, we have a sad moment maybe in the locker room. As a human the pressure came out there, but it wasn't a big deal. Some other people are thinking that because of that, that gives you super energy to play. I just think I learned from that, and next time I won't be so surprised," she said.