Jelena Ostapenko Cruises Past Alexandrova To Capture Maiden Linz Title - UBITENNIS

Jelena Ostapenko Cruises Past Alexandrova To Capture Maiden Linz Title

By Adam Addicott
4 Min Read

Jelena Ostapenko has continued her promising start to the year by winning the Linz Open for the first time on Sunday.

The world No.12 was in impressive form as she stormed to a 6-2, 6-3, victory over second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Austrian capital. The triumph comes less than a month after Ostapenko won the Adelaide International, which is also a WTA 500 event. It is the first time in her career that she has won multiple singles titles within the same season since 2017.

Ostapenko’s latest victory saw her win all nine of her service games against Alexandrova, who was visibly frustrated with her inability to tame the Latvian. Alexandrova sealed her place in the final after coming through a marathon semi-final match that lasted more than three hours. It is the second time she has finished runner-up at the event.

I want to congratulate Ekaterina on a great week. I think you played great and I wish you good luck in the next tournaments for this season,” the new champion said during the trophy presentation.
“Thank you to my team and my friends who are here supporting me today. It is not always easy with me but thank you so much for your support.
“I appreciate your support, I think we are a great team and the trophy shows this. I hope there will be many more to come
.”

Ostapenko, who was playing her 25th tour-level match of the season (including doubles), began the final in clinical fashion with the use of some heavy shot-making. She broke Alexandrova for the first time four games into the final after the Russian hit a forehand unforced error. Surging to a 5-2 lead and dropping just one point behind her first serve, the top seed worked her way to three set points. She converted her third opportunity by hitting a deep shot towards the baseline, which was returned out by Alexandrova, to seal the opener in less than 30 minutes.

Continuing to dictate play, the 26-year-old broke for a 3-1 lead in the second frame by hitting a thunderous backhand return winner. After just over an hour of play, Ostapenko earned her first championship point by hitting another backhand return winner but failed to convert when leading 6-2, 5-2. Nevertheless, she prevailed in the following game following an error from across the court.

Ostapenko is the first player from her country to win the Linz title. Her victory comes almost five years after she last played at the tournament in 2019. On that occasion, she reached the title match and then claimed the opening set before losing to Coco Gauff.

It’s not my first time in Linz but I really love it. A few years ago I was in the final but I didn’t get the trophy. I think the trophy this year is so much nicer. I’m really happy to have it.” Said Ostapenko.

So far in her career, Ostapenko has won eight WTA titles and earned more than $14.6M in prize money. She has been ranked as high as No.5 in the world back in 2018.

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