Latvian teenage sensation Jeļena Ostapenko has knocked out third seed Mona Barthel in the first round of the WTA Coupe Banque Nationale in Quebec, Canada.
The 17-year-old endured a marathon battle which lasted two hours and eighteen minutes before taking the match 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-4. During the match the Latvian experienced trouble with her serve as she dropped five service games, three of which was in the deciding set. Despite the temperamental serve, the 2014 Wimbledon girls champion managed to fight her way back to book her place in the second round.
Ostapenko is currently at a career ranking high of 101 in the world. During the US Open she qualified for the main draw where she beat Germany’s Annika Beck in the first round. In the second round she lost to Sara Errani. Her biggest accomplishment this year was at the an ITF $50,000 event in St Petersburg, Russia where she took the title. In addition Ostapenko has also reached the final at three other ITF events. At Wimbledon she shocked 9th seed Carla Suarez Navarro in the first round by dropping just two games.
Elsewhere at the tournament there were straight sets wins for Andrea Hlavackova and Sesil Karatantcheva. Hlavackova experienced a tough first set before dismissing America’s Shelby Rogers 7-6(8), 6-0, whilst Karatantcheva defeated Barbora Krejčíková 6-3,7-5.
