Jelena Ostapenko had a superb opening at the Mutua Madrid Open Friday. Serving and returning so well led her to dominate Polona Hercog in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 on Stadium 3 at the Caja Mágica in Madrid. The Latvian had 21 winners and converted better on breakpoint chances to glide into the second round.
This would be a good match between the two as they struggled to get a grip onto the red clay. The Slovenian barely had any time in Istanbul, while the Latvian faced tremendous adversity early in a high-quality tournament. With it being a first-time meeting between the two, both Hercog and Ostapenko had no time to feel out one another and would fight to gain momentum and control over the other.
The Slovenian started out well on the opening game, taking the lead with a shutout. Ostapenko wished she had the fortunate opening as she committed a double fault, leading them to deuce where she was lucky to manage a service hold. Hercog kept the pace, allowing Ostapenko a single point in the third. The Latvian had a better outcome in the fourth, giving the Slovenian one point on serve that stepped up her offense.
A fight ensued for the fifth game as Ostapenko returned with aggression, leading them to deuce. She managed to break Hercog on the second breakpoint with a well-placed forehand. She consolidated the win with a hold of serve, but holding two games in front of Hercog was not what the Slovenian wanted. The 30-year-old held the eighth to stay in touch with the Latvian, but Ostapenko was in a comfortable spot to hold serve for the 5-3 stand.
The ninth game saw Hercog struggling to break through Ostapenko, who had her return game in place to attack. She gained two breakpoints that had her gripping the set before a return scored her the jump on the match after 37 minutes. She made the ten winners recorded do the damage on Hercog but knew that her first serve had to improve going forward.
Ostapenko came into the second taking care of her service to lead fighting at the lines and painting the corners across the court. Hercog had to fight off the Latvian on serve in the second but came through after a break. With the momentum running well for the 23-year-old, she went on a tear through Hercog, taking the next four games with a double break in hand. She finished off the Slovenian with a service in the seventh game that got her through to victory in one hour and three minutes.
With her game in fine form, the former French Open champion will await the winner between veteran tennis star Venus Williams or UCLA alum Jennifer Brady.
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