Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia gave it her best shot in her Olympic debut but came up short at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics Sunday. Elena Vesnina of the Russian Olympic Committee delivered the blow to the former French Open champion in a three-set win 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-4 on Court 6 at the Ariake Tennis Park. It was the third win for the Russian against Ostapenko and one that moves her forward in singles action.
The two met twice three years ago with the Russian winning both of their meetings. This was Vesnina’s fourth Olympic appearance and the Latvian’s first. With nerves bound to be a factor for Ostapenko, she’ll hope that her aggressive style of play can work in her first match on the Tokyo courts. Vesnina never made it past the Round of 16 in the WTA tournament but looked to take care of business first having played at the venue in the past.
Vesnina opened the match with a hold but watched as Ostapenko topped her with a serve to love in the second. They remained locked on each other’s service games, but in the fifth, the Latvian captured a break to take the lead. Consolidating the break in the sixth allowed her a 4-2 hold on the Russian, who knew that another game from her end couldn’t be allowed. She nearly had a serve to love, but the 24-year-old answered with a big crosscourt return. She saved another point, but getting to deuce was foiled on a forced error that brought Vesnina back to a game down.
She managed to improve her push to fight every ball in the eighth that scored her a break to even the score at four-all. Vesnina achieved a three-game winning streak with a strong service game that put her in a position to try and take the set. Ostapenko tried to fend off the 34-year-old on serve in the tenth, but a second double fault allowed Vesnina to close out the first in 35 minutes. The Russian had a terrific second serve that saw her score on 11 of 12 and only five unforced errors compared to her opponent’s 16.
With serious leverage going forward, Vesnina opened the second stanza with a hold over Ostapenko. The Latvian struggled on serve, committing another pair of double faults, but getting to deuce to fight for the key point. The two fought through six breaks until it was Vesnina continuing to stay out ahead of Ostapenko. The Latvian wouldn’t let her get a jump and made sure to hold the fourth.
Vesnina answered with a shutout in the fifth but the Latvian responded with a win that leveled the score at three-all. The Russian kept her best foot forward, scoring another serve to love that gained her back the lead. Ostapenko returned the favor and kept the score even as they reached the business end of the set. Vesnina continued to press forward to set the bar for the Latvian to either clear or trip over with elimination on the line.
Ostapenko refused to go down on serve and clinched a win in the tenth to press the match onward. Though she kept going, Vesnina was still on a mission and made it 6-5. The Latvian continued to have the right answers against the Russian and held to love to press into action a tiebreak. It was the moment that Ostapenko had her opponent beat when errors began to show more than points won.
The Latvian had her opponent under pressure with breaks achieved in the tiebreak that led her to four set points and a decider on the horizon after 57 minutes.
After both players left the court to beat the heat for a short time, they returned with Vesnina earning a quick break from the Latvian. She made it 2-0 fast before Ostapenko reached deep and served the Russian to love. The 24-year-old added a break before winning her third straight on serve with another shutout. Vesnina fought back to keep things level before Ostapenko added another serve to love that gave her the lead.
Just when it looked like the Latvian would have the moxie to get the win, she fumbled a chance for a breakpoint in the eighth that kept the Russian even once more. Her efforts allowed her to break the 24-year-old and conduct a strong finish in the tenth. Vesnina built up three match points only to watch two of them slip away. Three was the charm for the tennis gold medalist, who clinched it on a ball that ended a 2 hour and 20-minute fight that put her into the second round.
No comments:
Post a Comment