Anett Kontaveit cleared to way to making more history for herself at the Australian Open. A lot of physical strength and breaking down seventh seeded Jelena Ostapenko that allowed her to make a three set fight come to fruition with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory on Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park. It was a big moment for her representing Estonia as she became the first from there to reach the fourth round.
The two faced off three years ago when they both played in the ITF together. The Estonian dropped her in straight sets allowing the Latvian just three games. Times have changed for the two as Ostapenko had her place secured for now playing for it all while her youth allowed it. Kontaveit already reached a high point of her career making further than ever before at the Open. With confidence from her victory against Mona Barthel where it went three sets, the 22-year-old would try to repeat history while the hope was there.
She broke Ostapenko twice to start the set with neither one able to hold their serve as of yet. The Estonian made it 3-1 as her game was up to speed with Ostapenko struggling to find her timing. She already had 10 errors in the set with the second set completely dormant that ultimately led Kontaveit to a 4-1 hold after five.
The Latvian managed to get into action winning two during her struggles but Kontaveit’s mission was moving closer to ending the first set in her favor. She gained the AD point at every chance Ostapenko gave her getting it done on her third chance to end the set in 36 minutes. During the break, Ostapenko called for the trainer who expressed a pain in her left thigh. The seventh seed had 18 unforced errors but showed her efforts with eight winners despite the second serve never coming into play for her during the set.
Ostapenko came out breaking Kontaveit in the opening game but as the second got underway, there was a lot more pain coming from her left thigh injury. She still pulled off a hold to love taking a 2-0 lead as her issues seemed manageable. It was 3-0 to the Latvian who didn’t want to give in to anything that was ailing her and proved so with a stronger game from her forehand. She reached a runaway point carrying a 5-0 run that put Kontaveit in danger of being shutout. She answered in the sixth with mistakes from Ostapenko making it possible for her to hold her own serve. When the ball returned to the Latvian’s hands she put the set away in 34 minutes eager to dictate further and be into the fourth round.
Kontaveit came out with a pose that was stronger than her response in the second set not wanting to give much to Ostapenko. She stayed tight with her through the set where they got leveled through four with Kontaveit giving very little room for her opponent to maneuver. After getting even for a third time, the seventh game was critical as the Estonian battled for the lead going deep into deuce with the 20-year-old. After six breaks, Kontaveit got the win in what was the longest game of the match getting the point on ball that dipped inside the line.
The serve of Kontaveit’s got better she threw down the gauntlet against Ostapenko achieving a solid hold in the eighth that gave her a 5-3 hold. The Latvian was on her last leg as she struggled against the hard returns of the 22-year-old who had her eyes on match point. Two errors from Ostapenko set up the Estonian for the moment of her career as a smash of the ball into the net brought a close to the French Open champion that gave Kontaveit her third win over a top ten player winning after 1 hour and 53 minutes.
“This was amazing,” Kontaveit said after the match. “She (Ostapenko) played so aggressively so I was just trying to stay with her in the third set and I managed to get the break and some confidence which really made a difference tonight.”
She’ll prepare to make a spot in the quarterfinals a reality facing Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro on Sunday night.
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