Guadalajara Open 2023: Jelena Ostapenko vs Marta Kostyuk preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (6) Jelena Ostapenko vs Marta Kostyuk
Date: September 19, 2023
Tournament: Guadalajara Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 32)
Venue: Panamerican Tennis Center, Guadalajara, Mexico
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hardcourt
Prize money: $2,788,468
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK – Amazon Prime Video
Jelena Ostapenko vs Marta Kostyuk preview
Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, will square off against Marta Kostyuk in the second round of the 2023 Guadalajara Open on Tuesday (September 19).
Ostapenko is in the midst of one of her career-best seasons. She reached the last eight at two Majors this year — the Australian Open and the US Open. She has won one title so far, which came at the Birmingham Classic.
Ostapenko has tallied 33 wins this season, which ranks second only to the 45 victories she notched up during her 2017 campaign. As one of the top seeds in Guadalajara, she received a first-round bye in singles.
Kostyuk, meanwhile, took on World No. 226 Stacey Fung in the first round. The former led 2-0 in the opening set, but the latter leveled the score rather quickly. The two went toe-to-toe over the next few games, but the Ukrainian eventually gained the upper hand.
Kostyuk swept the last three games of the set to clinch it. Fung responded by nabbing the second set to take the match into a decider. The Ukrainian dominated the final set as she didn't lose a single game in it to win the match 6-3, 2-6, 6-0.
Jelena Ostapenko vs Marta Kostyuk head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Jelena Ostapenko vs Marta Kostyuk odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Jelena Ostapenko vs Marta Kostyuk prediction
Getting pushed to three sets by a player ranked outside the top 200 isn't a good sign for Kostyuk. Nevertheless, she closed out the match in an emphatic manner to assert her dominance.
Kostyuk's seven double faults did put her on the backfoot, but she recovered quite well from the setback. Her next opponent, Ostapenko, also tends to have some service woes.
The Latvian's level has varied from one tournament to another. After reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open, she lost in the second round of the next event, the San Diego Open.
Ostapenko has often been pushed to three sets this season, that too from a winning position. Her ability to close out matches on her first try could prove to be costly.
That said, Ostapenko's hard-hitting style of play could pin Kostyuk way behind the baseline. The Ukrainian will need to make sure she engages her opponent in lengthy rallies to get some errors out of her.
But Ostapenko isn't the one to be deterred by her mistakes. Her brand of aggressive and relentless hitting has gotten her pretty of good results this season. As long as she's able to compensate for her errors by striking plenty of winners, she should be good to advance further.
Pick: Jelena Ostapenko to win in three sets.