Jelena Ostapenko battled back problems that were on the verge of overflowing but came through at the Gippsland Trophy Monday. The Latvian held firm in the late stages of each set against Danka Kovnic winning 6-4, 7-5 on court five at Melbourne Park.
The Latvian pushed herself to get the win against Sara Errani Sunday using aggression and anger to force the match to three sets and dictate well. Despite having eight double faults, Ostapenko kept them low in third during her dominant statement to the Italian. This marked their fourth meeting with the 13th seed beating her at Indian Wells for her second over the Montenegrin. With such ferocity from her end, bringing it once more against Kovnic would put her in a strong position to progress further.
Ostapenko opened the match with that very position, breaking Kovinic apart on deuce. She went on two add a serve to love to consolidate before the Montenegrin got on the board with a serve to love of her own. The Latvian made a move that spelled real trouble for the 26-year-old. The 13th seed rallied in the fourth with her second shutout, taking the next pair of games. With a 5-1 stance, Ostapenko tried to go for the break to take the set but Kovinic had other plans.
She held in the seventh before taking the Latvian on a struggling ride of holding serve in the next game. Kovinic boiled the frustration in her opponent, who knew that letting her focus get out of control was not the order of the set. Ostapenko regrouped, biding her time through the loss of ground until the tenth brought her to victory. She clipped the first down in 35 minutes with a second set point attempt that gave her the 6-4 score.
When the second started, Kovinic opened with a serve to love and followed things up with a break of Ostapenko. Just when it looked as if some momentum was building in the Montenegrin, she committed her fourth double fault that led to a break back for the Latvian. The 13th seed evened the score at two-all before finding a break that took three breaks of deuce to get it done.
Ostapenko consolidated the break with a hold in the sixth, closing in on the match with her momentum. She continued to battle Kovinic who was under trouble in the seventh, fighting to keep the hold of serve. A winner on the first break made it 4-3, back within touch of the Latvian. The eighth was a heavy fight for Ostapenko as she dug in to make sure she’d win at all costs. The two got to deuce where it took four break and 14 total points to make her the winner.
Kovinic served to stay alive in the match, getting help from the 13th seed who put too much on the returns. The Montenegrin let a point get away but held the ninth, hoping that she could extend the set further. Ostapenko assisted in that feat, recording her seventh and eighth double faults that gave Kovinic the break. The 13th seed broke back at a critical point, putting the ball in her hands to serve out the match.
In the 12th, Ostapenko scored her seventh ace before a wide return from Kovinic brought up match point for the 23-year-old. She put it away with a winner nailing the line to end her second round in 1 hour and 31 minutes. With her serve at 81 percent and scoring on nearly two-thirds, the 13th seed got herself into a great place with her problems on serve not becoming overwhelming. She’d try to keep up the positivity against third-seeded Elina Svitolina in the round of 16.
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