Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko has caused an upset in the women’s draw after brushing aside an out of sorts Karolina Pliskova in straight sets.
The Latvian eased to a 6-4, 6-2, win over the lacklustre world No.4, who struggled with her first serve throughout the encounter. Ostapenko on the other hand was able to dictate rallies with the use of her all-or-nothing shot-making that drew mistakes from across the court. Best illustrated by her winner-error ratio of 27-9. A stark contrast to the former world No.1 who produced almost three times as many errors than winners (25-9).
“At the beginning, it was tough,” Ostapenko said during her on-court interview. “I knew before the match I had to serve well. I had to be aggressive when I can and not miss many balls, especially considering she is the No.2 (seed) and a great player.’
“I had to bring my best tennis in order to beat her.” She added.
Taking to the Philippe Chatrier Court, which had its roof on due to the weather conditions, both players struggled for consistency early on with five breaks of serves in the first seven games of the match. Nevertheless, Ostapenko was the one who had the edge over her somewhat flat opponent who also struggled during her first round match. A substandard Pliskova service game enabled her to break once again for a 4-3 lead and this time she consolidated en route to clinching the first set.
Six games away from reaching the third round of a major for only the second time since the start of 2019, Ostapenko continued to capitalize on Pliskova’s tentative hitting. Using a combination of power and slice at the start of the second frame, she broke to Czech to love to open up an early lead. Closing in on the victory Ostapenko raced to 5-2 before sealing the comprehensive victory with a serve down the centre of the court that Pliskova returned out.
23-year-old Ostapenko has had a roller-coaster run when it comes to playing at Roland Garros. Since claiming the title in 2017, she had failed to win a single match at the Grand Slam until this year.
“It’s an amazing court,” the world No.43 said about playing on Philippe Chatrier. “It’s great that we can have some fans (watching) too. Of course, it doesn’t feel like it did in the final but still I am very grateful.
“I have great memories. So maybe this atmosphere helps me play better.”
Ostapenko will next play either 29th seed Sloane Stephens or Spain’s Paula Badosa.
