Jelena Ostapenko sends second seeded Pliskova to the exits at the French Open

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in action during the second round at the 2020 Roland Garros Grand Slam tennis tournament

Jelena Ostapenko was back with her signature aggression that brought a massive win at the French Open Thursday. The 2017 champion played like one against second-seeded Karolina Pliskova who had nothing to respond with in a 6-4, 6-2 result on Philippe Chatrier Court at Roland Garros. It was her first time back on the court, pulling a huge upset in the tournament. 

The difficulty arose for the 23-year-old as she faced the Czech superstar for the sixth time. Having won twice against her with one back in 2019, Pliskova ran her on the clay courts of Stuttgart in three sets. With the anticipation of playing once more indoors due to foul Parisian weather, the Latvian had to use all the improvements made and dictate against the second seed. The 28-year-old had a tough one on her hands with Mayar Sherif going deep into a first set tiebreak. She managed to overcome the early defeat with quick wins in the next pair to face Ostapenko once more. As one who can handle clay, the battle between the two euro stars would be fierce. 

Ostapenko was first to break in the match, taking advantage of Pliskova’s mistakes. She couldn’t hold her own service, having committed a double fault that handed the break to the Czech. Up until the 13 points played, the second seed had yet to score a point. She got on the board but was forced to deuce, inevitably giving Ostapenko the double break. With three breaks of serve, Pliskova applied the pressure on the Latvian to hold service in the fifth, notching her second. 

The Czech consolidated her win with a break of Ostapenko to close the gap but watched it open back up with her first serve vulnerability. The 23-year-old went after her problems to break back and hold serve in the eighth. With a 5-3 hold, she earned the chance to play for the set but the second seed had other plans. Improving her offense at the right time, Pliskova landed a couple winners in the ninth, earning the serve to love. The Latvian refused to let her serve to get away from her and locked down the win over the second seed, who erred twice in the game to give in after 38 minutes. 

Ostapenko took all that was successful in the opening set and opened the second with a break to love of Pliskova. The Latvian then held off a push to deuce from the second seed to open the gap. The Czech got into the set with a hold of serve, giving just two points to her opponent. Despite the loss of full control, Ostapenko had it on serve, notching her second shutout of the match for a 3-1 lead. 

Pliskova’s first serve continued to rattle her as she notched a fourth double fault in the fifth but managed to hold after three breaks of deuce. With an hour of action in the books, Ostapenko had a 4-2 lead, adding another strong hold against the Czech. The seventh was a big moment for the former champion, who broke Pliskova with a winning return to sit 5-2 and balls in hand for the match. With two winners in the eighth (27 overall), Ostapenko had two match points but committed a double fault to bring Pliskova to deuce. Despite needing more time to get it done, she let the Czech err on the last point ending her day in one hour and nine minutes.