Jelena Ostapenko punches ticket to Eastbourne final defeating Elena Rybakina

Jelena Ostapenko clenches her first during the semifinal match with Elena Rybakina at the Viking International in Eastbourne, England

Jelena Ostapenko was well in control to get her into the Viking International final Friday. The Latvian dominated in the first and dealt with late challenges from Elena Rybakina, who went down 6-1, 6-4 on center court at Devonshire Park. The former French Open finalist scored 38 winners and didn’t commit a single double fault on the grass court. 

The two met two years ago at Linz with the Latvian winning in straight sets on an indoor court. Both players were well experienced on the grass in the last couple of weeks leading them to a battle for a spot in the final. While Ostapenko won their last meeting, she comes in against Rybakina with an aggressive game that helped put away Daria Kasatkina in three sets. The Kazak’s strategy of producing winners would either help her beat down the 24-year-old or experience a fight that could slip up. 

Ostapenko brought the pressure to Rybakina, who opened service but couldn’t deal with the early intensity, suffering a break to start. Before the Latvian could open service in the second, a fan in the court had an issue forcing play to pause. After several minutes, the 24-year-old opened the second game firing forehand shots at the 22-year-old that helped her consolidate. The double break was achieved quickly by Ostapenko, who took time away from Rybakina, but consolidating further was not what the Kazak had in mind. 

With a chance to get on the board, Rybakina found a way to change up the pace to her favor and blast the forehand to earn a hold. She went into the fifth, backing up the success with a break of Ostapenko. She continued to build together a winning streak against the Latvian that made it three-all. By the seventh, the 24-year-old fought hard to end the three-game slide and scored the break as a result. 

The task was still heavy for the Latvian, who was challenged with a force to deuce from Rybakina. They went two breaks with Ostapenko in charge of her offense to take a 5-3 stance. The 22-year-old served to stay in the set, scoring a key hold of serve that put her a game down of leveling. Before she could do so, she called the physio to evaluate a problem with her lower back. A medical timeout was taken before play resumed with Ostapenko serving for the set. 

The Latvian easily reached three set points with her second attempt going into the net and her third giving her the win on a wide return from Rybakina ending 59 minutes. The Latvian had 24 winners but nearly as many unforced errors that almost blew her chance to lead. The minimal output from the 22-year-old didn’t help her gain the important ground needed to lead. 

The Kazak called back the physio during the set break to put pressure on her lower back before opening the second set on serve. It was there that she got into a 0-40 hole, but a forced error from Ostapenko and an ace helped her get within reach. She fired a winner that forced deuce and killed off a breakpoint opportunity for her opponent on the next point. They went three breaks with Ostapenko having the leverage to take the break. She made a statement, holding serve in the second, putting herself in a great position. 

Rybakina managed to record a service hold in the third to get on the board, but further competition was to be played out. Ostapenko took point in the fourth, holding with a serve to love. She tried to go for the double break, but the 22-year-old didn’t make it easy. On the third break, Ostapenko had her shot and scored the 4-1 lead with a return landing long of the baseline for Rybakina. A hold of serve was achieved by the Latvian, but the effort was high due to the continuing challenges from the Kazak. She found herself serving to stay alive in the match in the seventh, but errors and a strong response from Ostapenko brought up match points. The 24-year-old lost one but a double fault from Rybakina handed her the victory that took 1 hour and 32 minutes. 

“I knew she was serving well so I needed to return well today,” Ostapenko said after the match. “I wanted to play well from the beginning because yesterday I was struggling a little bit and I think I played really well on the high-level today and that’s why I won.” She’ll go into the Eastbourne final playing Baltic tennis star Annett Kontaveit on Saturday. “She’s a great player and consistent,” said the Latvian. “It’s gonna be a good match and hopefully I can show my best tennis.”