French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko raced through her opening round encounter at the Australian Open, defeating Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-4 inside Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
Ostapenko, who stunned the tennis world last year by winning the title at Roland Garros against the favorite Simona Halep, began her campaign in Melbourne with a breezy straight sets win over former French Open winner Schiavone in an hour and 15 minutes.
The Latvian was aggressive from the outset, never allowing Schiavone to settle down in any sort of rhythm, winning the first set 6-1 within a blink of an eye. The second set, though started quite differently as the Italian managed to find her groove to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
However, Ostapenko continued with her tactic of engaging Schiavone in short rallies and eventually her opponent wilted under the barrage of heavy ground-strokes coming from her racquet. A complete role reversal took place at that stage as Jelena won the following six games in a row to move into the next round of the tournament.
“I knew before the match that it’s not going to be easy,” Ostapenko said in her post-match press conference. “She’s very experienced player and she’s very long time on tour.
“I knew I had to play really aggressive and stay very consistent.”
“It’s tough, especially after winning at the age of 20. Everybody wants to beat you. You have to prepare very well for every match. But on the other side, I have nothing to lose. I already won the Grand Slam. I just enjoy every match and show my best.”
“Philippe Chatrier is my favorite court, because I won my biggest tournament there, and my first Grand Slam. But I really enjoy to play on all center courts, especially when there is a lot of people watching and supporting me. I really love that feeling.”
Ostapenko will face Duan Ying-Yang for a place in the round of 32 after the Chinese defeated Mariana Duque-Marino of Columbia 6-0, 6-1 in less than an hour earlier in the day.
