Former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko edged past Iga Swiatek 6-3 3-6 6-2 in their first ever clay court match to reach the semifinal at the Porsche Tennis Indoor Grand Prix in Stuttgart for the first time in her career.
Ostapenko has extended her winning streak over Swiatek to 6-0. The Latvian player has beaten her Polish rival on all surfaces after achieving four wins on hard court and one victory on grass. Ostapenko beat Swiatek 6-3 6-1 in Doha last February in their previous head-to-head match this year.
“Every time I step on the court with her, it’s another battle. Even if I don’t feel great on the day, I will just fight and leave it all on the court. I tried to be aggressive today and take time away from her because when she has time, she is playing very well”, said Ostapenko.
Ostapenko raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first set with two breaks of serve. Swiatek pulled one break back in the fifth game for 1-4. Ostapenko earned her third break to love in the sixth game to take a 5-1 lead. Swiatek converted her third break-back in the seventh game to reduce her gap to 2-5. Ostapenko hit two back-to-back aces to seal the first set 6-3. Ostapenko hit 10 winners to to 9 unforced errors compared to Swiatek’s 3 winners to 12 unforced errors.
Swiatek turned around the match by breaking Ostapenko at love in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Ostapenko converted her third break-back point in the fifth game for 2-3, as Swiatek made a double fault. Ostapenko held serve at 30 in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Swiatek earned her second break in the eighth game to 15 to take a 5-3 lead before closing out the second set 6-3 with a hold at 15 to force the match to the decisive set.
Ostapenko earned an early break in the second game of the third set to race out to a 3-0 lead. The 2017 Roland Garros champion saved a break point in the seventh game to hold serve at deuce for 5-2. Swiatek faced two match points in the eighth game when she was serving to stay in the match. The Polish player saved the first match point on her serve but Ostapenko broke serve on her second opportunity to seal the third set 6-2.
Ostapenko set up a semifinal clash against Ekaterina Alexandrova, who beat Jessica Pegula 6-0 6-4. “You know, she’s a great clay court player for player as well, but you know, I won French Open too so I can say about myself the same thing. I’m really, like, happy with the way I was fighting. Even I felt like the balls were getting a bit slower when they were, like, used. And yeah, I’m really just glad that I was fighting like in the second set. I didn’t feel my game so much. And in the third set I was like, OK, it’s done the second set and done, we are playing the third set from the beginning, and I will fight until the end and we’ll see what happens, but I’m really proud of myself”, said Ostapenko.
Swiatak claimed two consecutive titles at the clay indoor tournament in 2022 and 2023 beating Aryna Sabalenka in both finals. Last year she was beaten by eventual champion Elena Rybakina.
