Magda Linette wins first match at Italian Open

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Jelena Ostapenko had a rough outing in her return to tennis at the BNL Internazionali D’Italia. Magda Linette played her best while the Latvian double-faulted through a majority of her service games to bow out 6-3, 6-4 on Court One at Foro Italico in Rome. It was the first win for the Pole in the main draw on what was her premier entry to the tournament.

 

The two faced off for the first time in WTA action with the Latvian experiencing competitive tennis after nearly two months from the sport. With the Pandemic cutting Ostapenko off at Doha back in March, the 23-year-old looked to get back on track as the court season went into full swing. The former French Open champion had dealt with a lot this year since the death of her father and falling in the ranks.

 

With the sport back in limited play, the former world number five looked to have an edge on the Pole. Linette went three rounds at the US Open before transitioning back to Europe to begin clay court training. With Ostapenko ahead of her with time on the court and her past success, the hill for Linette would be strenuous.

 

Ostapenko served to open the match but had her usual trouble of double faults crash into her game. Two of them allowed Linette to force deuce where she gained break points but couldn’t cash in. The Latvian notched another double fault and only won three points from the serve. Despite that, four breaks were played with Ostapenko somehow locking down the service that took her seven minutes.

 

Linette had the more comfortable service as her victory lasted three minutes, holding her to a point. The 23-year-old surprised herself with a serve to love consisting of a messy first serve that produced forced errors from Linette each time. A break to love for the Latvian increased her margin but the Pole broke back in kind, sitting a game down in the fifth. She took a medical timeout on court before returning to play with the service.

 

Linette drew errors from Ostapenko, earning her the break back to level a three-all. She turned that into a good winning streak, consolidating a hold with a double break thereafter. It was 5-3 for the 28-year-old, with the Latvian struggling to stay in it. She racked up her sixth double fault of the set. Linette had set point but returned into the net to bring up deuce. The game only went a break as the world number 35 put too much pep on her returns, handing Ostapenko a much-needed service hold.

 

Despite earning the chance to break and force the set on, Linette wasn’t going to let Ostapenko get into that position. The 28-year-old built together set points and held her third attempt to put an end to the first in 48 minutes. The Latvian improved her serve just slightly to 30 percent with seven double faults to her name so far. Linette doubled that of her opponent’s first serve but struggled with her return end. With an advantage in the match, she would try to hold up her end and cruise through the following set.

 

A troubling start for the Latvian presented itself in the shape of an eighth double fault on the third point of the opening game. Linette responded with a winner later on that scored the early break. She consolidated the early lead with a hold in the second and won seven of the last eight games. It was vital for Ostapenko to win the third but her opponent was becoming an unstoppable force. A tenth double fault blew her best chance to hold, but in spite of going to deuce with Linette, she managed to hold on a final error from the other end. A break got the Latvian to level pegging with the Pole, letting out a scream of frustration to make room for the increasing confidence.

 

With her move to go for the lead in the fifth, Ostapenko recorded a 12^th double fault that handed Linette breakpoints. She reached her fourth attempt when a 13^th from the Latvian sealed the break back. The 28-year-old inched closer with a hold of serve, but Ostapenko produced another serve to love that kept her a game back after seven. Errors ruined the Latvian’s chance to break and level the score that made it 5-3 with one left for the win.

 

The 23-year-old served to stay alive but a 14^th double blew game point and forced deuce for Linette. The Pole reached match point on Ostapenko’s 15^th of the day where a cross-court response saw a line drive land long to end the match in 1 hour and 31 minutes.