Sofia Kenin sends Ostapenko out early at the French Open

Sofia Kenin put her best foot forward againt Jelena Ostapenko at the French Open Monday.

Jelena Ostapenko met her match a little too early at the French Open Monday. The former champion of the tournament fell down early and couldn’t keep up with the pace against Sofia Kenin, who won in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 on Court Suzanne Lenglen at Roland Garros. The former finalist kept the unforced errors lower than her opponent and came through with power on her side. 

The two met for the first time in WTA action with their first coming on the clay courts in Paris. The Latvian gained more time on the surface than her American counterpart, who didn’t achieve a win in her two starts. Since Kenin let go of her coach and father, the 22-year-old came into the year’s second slam solo hoping for success in the first round. Ostapenko would hope those remnants of her maiden slam would come to help her out and get on the right foot. With coaching time under the leadership of Marion Bartoli, the 23-year-old entered her sixth appearance hoping to surpass the third round from last year. While they only met in Fed Cup action once, the two stars were sure to have a battle on their hands. 

The Latvian opened service with a good forehand strategy that included some drop shots at Kenin. The early success led her to break the American but consolidating it did not go through well. The fourth seed broke back in the third but suffered another loss on serve that gave Ostapenko a 3-1 lead. On serve in the fifth game, the Latvian struggled after two double faults brought the game to deuce. She and Kenin got into a fight with dropped shots that made a difference for the American. She played two breaks before gaining the edge to sit a game down. 

She worked hard on serve to level the score after six, closing the gap while leaving the door open the dictate further. Ostapenko gave the indication that her double faults would come to wreak havoc, but the former champion of the tournament got through her service to regain the lead. The American notched the second service game that allowed her to dig in against the competition, working the forehand. 

Ostapenko was on notice of the challenge at hand and fought with all her might for control of the score in the ninth. The two went to deuce where after two breaks, the American scored the breakpoint to take a 5-4 lead and serve for the set. Pressing the Latvian by answering everything she got back across the net, the American kept the heat on and took her place in the tenth to capture the set in 41 minutes. 

Knowing that she let her early dominance slip away, the Latvian fought hard on serve in the second set, securing her service game with aggression. Kenin answered her to hold serve and patiently wait for her time to strike for a break. Ostapenko made it a real challenge for her to level the score, forcing the fourth game to deuce. They played four breaks where a gift for the American went awry on her return forcing her to suffer a break to the Latvian, who gained a 3-1 edge. 

She went on to secure service easily, making it a 4-1 hold with a third set looming in the distance. Kenin struck back with two huge wins that cut into Ostapenko’s gap leaving her with just one to go. With the serve back in the American’s hands, the 22-year-old clinched the full comeback to fight for another shot at leading. Ostapenko denied her that opportunity on serve, clinching the ninth to make it a battle to the bitter end. 

A key break of Kenin in the tenth allowed the Latvian to keep her hopes alive after 45 minutes, bringing the third set into action. Knowing that her comeback was something to be pleased about, the American’s failure to get it done, moved her to find a way to dictate in the decider. She started by scoring a break on the Latvian before backing it up with a service hold for the lead. Kenin had a 3-0 run that worried Ostapenko, who made good work of breaking back the American to get on the board. 

She suffered another break back, but couldn’t lock down her service in the seventh that led Kenin to take a 5-2 lead and service for the match. The fourth seed tried to come back from a short deficit, but despite forcing deuce, the Latvian clinched the win on a double fault from the American to break back once more. 

Despite the loss of service, she managed to come back and earn free points by Ostapenko to take her to win on an error from the Latvian to win after two hours and five minutes.