Linz Open 2019: Jelena Ostapenko makes comfortable start to her campaign
Jelena Ostapenko had an easy opener as she began her campaign at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open on Wednesday. The 22-year-old put up a solid performance to beat Tamara Korpatsch 6-1, 6-3 at the Tips Arena.
Ostapenko opened the match with a break of Korpatsch's serve but her own service troubles led to her dropping her serve as well. A second double fault from Korpatsch's racquet opened the door for the Latvian to break back, marking the third straight break of the set. Ostpapenko then halted the streak and scored the first hold of service that gave her a 2-1 lead.
After a commanding 4-1 lead, she kept up the pressure on the German by consistently drawing errors from Korpatsch. The German quickly found herself down a set after 29 minutes as Ostapenko hardly ever took her foot off the pedal.
Both made a good start to the second set, where Ostapenko held despite her service game going to deuce. Korpatsch had a chance at completing her service game strong but committed errors to bring the Latvian to 40-all. Converting a break point put Ostapenko on the path to victory.
The former French Open winner then held in the third game, which was followed by a difficult fight for the break. After Ostapenko opened up a 4-1 lead on Korpatsch with a serve to love, the German woke up and answered with a hold in the sixth.
A huge break to love in the following game put her a game away from Ostapenko, who quickly had a challenge to counter. The Latvian consulted her coach to keep her emotions in check as the qualifier served in an attempt to level up.
She couldn’t get it done as Ostapenko returned some terrific shots down the line to clinch a break point and serve for the match. After giving up one point to Korpatsch in the ninth game, the Latvian got the job done in 71 minutes.