The two hadn’t met in three years when they played all their of the matches. The Latvian took wins in Auckland and Acapulco before losing to the American in Miami. Since the shutdown, both got time to play competitive tennis with Brengle doing her best at the US Open. With no matches so far on clay, the 30-year-old had a disadvantage against the 2017 champion at Roland Garros.
Her actions in Rome and Strasbourg didn’t produce championships but major improvements to her serve. With coach Tomas Hogstedt in her corner, the Latvian significantly lowered the double faults. With another chance to gain at Brengle’s expense, the 23-year-old needed a big statement to come from her offense.
She brought it against the American’s service, scoring a break to love early. When it came to her own service game, the 23-year-old struggled with a double fault. While she did come back to force deuce, the American held serve after three breaks. Brengle consolidated her service for a 2-1 lead and fought to keep the winning going. A fourth game break was recorded by Brengle who leveled but fell at the hands of Ostapenko notching the fifth game.
Having played every single game to a break of serve, the Latvian wanted to change that and hold from her end once. She did just that after playing deuce twice while saving a pair of breakpoints from Brengle. She went on to break her in the seventh, taking a 5-2 lead on the American with her first chance to serve for the set. Making a comeback on serve, the Latvian forced deuce from 15-40, won the first AD point, and clinched the one-set lead in 36 minutes. The 23-year-old served 73 percent from the first serving, recording almost two-thirds for points. Despite committing six double faults, Ostapenko’s jump ahead in the match was an important point.
Much like the start of the first set, Ostapenko came out into the second with a break to love on Brengle. She consolidated with a hold of serve, getting off to a terrific start. The 30-year-old got on the board, holding off Ostapenko but the former French Open champion returned to her dominating form. The Latvian gave up a breakpoint but saved it to force deuce. She dealt with another break for Brengle before locking up the game on the second break. With a 3-1 grip in the set, the 23-year-old went for broke, scoring two breakpoints that gave her a three-game margin from the American.
On serve in the sixth, Ostapenko struggled, adding another double fault that brought Brengle back into the mix. The Latvian finished her off with a lob shot for the AD point before getting into place for the line drive winner. The 30-year-old served to stay in the match but erred twice to get Ostapenko close to the finish. The Latvian notched her own match point with a return winner before getting the first round done with a winner down the line. It was a 62-minute success for Ostapenko who clinched her third win over the American and advanced to the second round.
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