Ostapenko holds Schiavone in straight sets at the Australian Open

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Jelena Ostapenko regrouped at the right moment to keep her day short at Melbourne Park Monday. The 2017 French Open champion defeated 2010 champ Francesca Schiavone

6-1, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena advancing to the second round.

This was a first-time meeting for the two pros of the WTA tour with the reigning French Open champ looking forward to setting her eyes on another slam. She had to face the Italian who made her 18^th appearance in the tournament and hoped to better her first-round finish from last year. Schiavone has never been further than the third round and had the chance to take on the aggressive Latvian. Ostapenko’s exhibition victory over Serena Williams and two matches so far have proven difficult but the chance to turn it all around with the season still young was her moment to shine in the sun.

She pulled off the opening service showing the Italian what she has going. She got aggressive in the next game trying to break Schiavone but to no avail as the 37-year-old worked her way to holding. She challenged Ostapenko trying to break down her offense and create breaks. A final rally that had smash opportunities for the Latvian were answered by the Italian veteran until a long ball brought the seven-minute game to a close.

The win was a precursor to setting herself up at the right moments on court to get easy points against Schiavone. The strategy on the break earned her a 3-1 lead and consolidated it with a hold that had well placed shots that beat the 37-year-old. Missed shots on the service game of Schiavone’s put her in danger as she handed the 20-year-old Latvian a third straight win. She soon faced two set points which ended in an ace to Ostapenko that ended the first in 29 minutes. Ostapenko had 15 winners in her dominance of the Italian looking to do more damage to her opponent.

Schiavone knew that she couldn’t let that happen and answered with a strong show of force on serve. She made things harder for Ostapenko whose aggression was being answered well by Schiavone who wanted to be the one dictating the set. She was denied that chance as the 20-year-old delivered a solid placement capturing game point.

The Italian brushed off the opening game and went on the attack finding her strokes and her groove that had the Latvian under pressure. She turned that into a 3-1 lead which stood as a serious statement. Ostapenko tried bringing a break together in the fifth but her shots were consistently landing wide of line. It gave Schiavone a 4-1 hold and a sizable winning streak. A key hold for the Latvian cut the margin in half but she was not out of the woods without more attacks overall. She put a lot of focus on Schiavone’s serve that landed as winners and gave her a triple break winner.

A game separated them after the seventh with Ostapenko reeling her problems in to follow well on her shots and level the score at four all. She took the ninth game and put the heat on Schiavone to allow her another break and set up her chance to finish the day with a win. A third straight victory brought an end with aggressive actions on offense that saved her from trouble in 1 hour and 14 minutes.

“She is a great player,” Ostapenko said. “She is very, very experienced and many more years on tour. She’s very tough opponent. In the second set, I was missing a little bit more and then I found my game and I am really glad the way I finished the match.”

With a strong opponent out of the way, Ostapenko will prepare for her second-round match Wednesday between the winner of Ying-Ying Duan and Mariana Duque-Marino.