Italian Open 2021: Karolina Pliskova vs Jelena Ostapenko preview, head-to-head & prediction
Match details
Fixture: (9) Karolina Pliskova vs Jelena Ostapenko
Date: 14 May 2021
Tournament: Internazionali BNL d'italia 2021
Round: Quarterfinals
Venue: Rome, Italy
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Red clay
Prize money: $1,835,490
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Karolina Pliskova vs Jelena Ostapenko preview
Ninth seed Karolina Pliskova faces 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Italian Open on Friday.
Ostapenko, currently ranked 49th in the world, had a tough outing in her Round of 16 encounter against Angelique Kerber. The Latvian lost the first set after getting broken in her first four service games, but dug deep in the next two sets to eke out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
It is pertinent to note that Ostapenko got a lot of free points on Kerber's serve during the match. The German struggled with the shot on Thursday, coughing up 13 double faults in what must be one of the worst serving performances of her career.
Ostapenko had reached the last eight of the Italian Open in 2018 too, losing to Maria Sharapova in three sets. But the mercurial Latvian has struggled at the tournament in all other years.
Karolina Pliskova, on the other hand, won the coveted title at the Foro Italico in 2019, beating Johanna Konta in the final. Even aside from that victory, the Czech has a good record in Rome and on clay overall; she finished as the runner-up to Simona Halep last year, and has reached the semifinals (or higher) of a 1000-level claycourt event on three other occasions.
Pliskova has displayed impressive form in Rome this week, beating Anastasija Sevastova and Vera Zvonareva without much trouble. The former World No. 1's biggest weapon during her campaign has been her serve, with which she has dominated the proceedings in both of her matches.
Karolina Pliskova vs Jelena Ostapenko head-to-head
The head-to-head between Karolina Pliskova and Jelena Ostapenko currently stands at 4-3 in favor of Pliskova.
Ostapenko played some scintillating tennis to upset Pliskova at Roland Garros 2020, beating her 6-4, 6-2. But it was the Czech who stood tall in their last claycourt meeting, which was at Stuttgart this year.
Karolina Pliskova vs Jelena Ostapenko prediction
In her Roland Garros match against Karolina Pliskova last year, Jelena Ostapenko came out all guns blazing and hit a whopping 27 winners against only 19 unforced errors. The Latvian absolutely destroyed Pliskova's trusty serve that day, bagging nearly 50% of her first and second return points.
But Pliskova didn't let the big-hitting Ostapenko do that again when they met in Stuttgart this year. She blasted 21 aces past the Latvian and won 70% of her first serve points that day, and she would love to repeat those numbers on Friday.
Ostapenko had disappeared from the radar for a long time after her maiden Major triumph at 2017 Roland Garros. She does possess some dangerous groundstrokes from both wings, but whether she can maintain her consistency in this high-profile match-up remains to be seen.
Prediction: Karolina Pliskova to win in three sets.