Two decades ago, there was another Jelena Ostapenko. Iva Majoli, too, was 19 years old when she showed up at Roland Garros. She shocked the tennis world when she upended Martina Hingis in the 1997 French Open final.
Majoli actually may have been a better tennis player than Ostapenko. Make that a more complete tennis player.
But the slender Croatian never won anything major again, although she did show up in Charleston in 2002 and prevented crowd favorite Patty Schnyder from winning a Family Circle Cup title. Majoli was never heard much from on the tour after winning that Family Circle. She retired a couple years later.
OSTAPENKO WAS IN CHARLESTON FINAL
Ostapenko was in the final of the Volvo Car Open a couple of months ago. Of course, the Family Circle Cup was the forerunner of the VCO.
But Daria Kasatkina proved to be much superior in tennis smarts than Ostapenko. And, for that matter, Simona Halep, too.
As one writer described Kasatkina’s 6-3, 6-1 domination of Ostapenko at the VCO, “Poor Jelena went into over-hit mode and played right into Kasatkina’s hands. The Russian (Kasatkina) knew exactly what to do. She started playing the mind game with a softer, less aggressive approach.
“Ostapenko continued to go for broke, whether she was in position or not. By then, she was lunging into what she hoped would be winners, not errors. Balls flew everywhere.
“It got even worse when Kasatkina went into a semi-moon ball attack. Kasatkina’s blooping balls bounced short and didn’t come up high on the clay. They caught Ostapenko off stride as she floated balls over the baseline.”
HALEP PLAYED HER NORMAL GAME
Darren Cahill is an excellent coach with a great tennis mind. Surely, he had seen video of what happened to Ostapenko in Charleston and prepared Halep to take advantage of Ostapenko’s weaknesses in Saturday’s French Open final.
If so, Halep must not have heard her coach. She played her normal “vanilla” game. She actually played well, but without strategy.
Halep kept the ball in the middle of the court much of the match, balls landing near the service line and bouncing up into Ostapenko’s power alley. “Is that one just about the right height?”
Ostapenko feasted on them, hardly having to move.
Ostapenko was on fire, and Halep fed the flame in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory for the young Latvian.
Halep must have thought her “A” game would be too good for Ostapenko. When Halep wasn’t keeping the ball in the middle of the court, she hit solid cross-court ground strokes to the corners. No bloopers, no short balls, no slice backhands.
In short, no flexibility.
HALEP LACKS FLEXIBILITY
This French Open final may have revealed why at an age nearing 27, Halep hasn’t won a Grand Slam title. She doesn’t have the power of an Ostapenko or the finesse of a Hingis.
Halep has a pretty game to match her looks. She’s obviously a great athlete, muscles bulging out of her lower legs.
But she plays a fragile game of little flexibility.
You might also say that Ostapenko’s game also lacks flexibility. The difference, however, is that when this powerhouse of a young woman is on her game, her opponent’s only option is to enforce change.
Halep didn’t, or couldn’t.
MIRACLES GO KID’S WAY
Even miracles went against Halep. What else could you call the gift that was handed to Ostapenko with Halep serving at 30-40, 3-3 in the third set. A wild Ostapenko backhand down the backhand line was headed out by at least 10 feet when the ball miraculously hit the top of the tape between the sideline and net post, reverse-bounced sideways and dropped just inside of the sideline.
Instead of deuce, Halep suddenly found herself facing a 4-3 deficit.
Even the match point appeared to be sheer luck for the Latvian youngster. With Halep serving at 30-30, Ostapenko got a backhand on Halep’s serve. The lame-duck return caromed off Ostapenko’s racket and fell just inside the far sideline. Halep could only watch.
Match point!
Maybe there was more to this one than just a kid winning her first WTA Tour title in a Grand Slam.
James Beck is the long-time tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspaper. He can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. See his Post and Courier columns at http://www.postandcourier.com/search/?l=25&sd=desc&s=start_time&f=html&t=article%2Cvideo%2Cyoutube%2Ccollection&app=editorial&q=james+beck&nsa=eedition
