Jelena Ostapenko makes her mark at Porsche Tennis GP

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Jelena Ostapenko came through a tight competition at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Wednesday. The Latvian struggled to find her marks but kept on against Stefanie Voegele to win 6-4, 7-5 on court one at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart. 

This marked their first WTA meeting and the first clay-court match for Ostapenko that put her on the working end of the match. Her opponent already had a good footing in Stuttgart winning through qualifications. The Latvian hadn’t played a match in nearly a month, but as a former French Open champion, getting back to her comfort zone would take time. 

Her service game didn’t go well, giving Voegele the early break. She backed it up with a hold that took a break of deuce to accomplish. Despite her attempts to find her range back in the second, Ostapenko took things in stride to get on the board in the third and break back in the following game. The 23-year-old trailed on serve once again, leading the Swiss star to another break. 

A third consecutive game break was in the books with Ostapenko back at level terms due to her fight on deuce. Another two games went for breaks that left neither player a clear path to lead. With the seat near its conclusion, Ostapenko made a push to find it in her offense to edge Voegele and take the pivotal 5-4 lead. The Latvian put an end to the set, backing up her service hold with one last break of Voegele to end 41 minutes of play. Both had a rough outing on their second serves to produce less than 30 percent from it. Ostapenko had four double faults but managed to serve 71 percent from the first serve. 

She went into the second set getting broken by Voegele and was once again in a 2-0 hole. The 23-year-old fought back with a hold and a break in the fourth, setting up a fight for control throughout the remainder of the set. Each player held through the next six games making it a force to play more games. Ostapenko made good on serve in the 11th to take the lead on Voegele and add pressure to the Swiss player. She double-faulted on the second point before the Latvian fired a line drive return for match point. A second one clinched her the win against Voegele to end her day in 1 hour and 32 minutes.