Jelena Ostapenko finds a way to advance to second round at Australian Open

Jelena Ostapenko battled her way through the first round against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova at the Australian Open. 

Jelena Ostapenko had to dig deep and work hard to come through a tough opener at the Australian Open Monday. The Latvian overcame a long first-set tiebreak loss with Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, taking the match 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-1 on Court 17 at Melbourne Park. 

The two haven’t met in six years making this a great reunion in an opening-round match at a major. So far in 2022, the Slovakian has done better with winning matches despite being in qualifications. Ostapenko faced tough opponents but showed potential in her conducting of opening sets. With that in her wheelhouse, the Latvian vied to keep that up while preventing a battle with Schmiedlova like she had in Cincinnati. 

The 27-year-old took charge in the opening game and served well, keeping Ostapenko back. The Latvian stumbled after a winner on the second point of her service game and erred four times thereafter. It was there that on the second break of deuce, the Slovakian notched the break taking a two-game margin. She went on to commit two double faults in the third and somehow climbed back to deuce to save the service. 

With a sizable lead, Ostapenko had to find a way out and even the score with Schmiedlova. After a much-needed hold in the fourth that saw her double fault but notch four winners, she went on to break the 27-year-old in the fifth. After an unforced error, Ostapenko had four winners in the sixth that leveled the score. The Latvian had found her new gear and kept on the pedal, scoring a break to love that put her in the lead. She made it 5-3, with an offensive shutout only to see Schmiedlova do the same to make it 5-4. 

In a critical point to close out the set after a hard comeback, Ostapenko erred too much that allowed Schmiedlova to break and tie the score. She secured the lead back on serve in the 11^th that soon saw the 26^th seed force a tiebreak. She made it 3-0 quick and kept Schmiedlova to a point when it was 6-1 in her favor. The coveted set point was a true struggle for the Latvian, who was denied by the Slovakian on the next four points. Ostapenko made it 7-6, but unforced errors put Schmiedlova in the place to take the set with a 9-7 victory. 

It was a 56-minute fight that saw them play to 86 points and 26 errors for Ostapenko that broke apart her efforts in the first. She found a way to regroup and opened the second with a strong hold of serve. Schmiedlova followed along and the two held serves with a couple of breaks in the set. Though each service game had challenges from the other side, the Latvian had the late edge that put her at 5-4. She went on to break the 27-year-old and force the third set into action after 45 minutes. 

It was there that the two continued to battle through games, but the control stood well with Ostapenko, who fended off a breakpoint and held on the break of deuce. Schmiedlova defended her end to hold serve and went for broke in the third where she produced three breakpoints. It was a pipe dream for the Slovakian, who watched as Ostapenko’s run of winners helped her secure the service game. 

After a hard effort, she decided to gift the 27-year-old with a break in the fourth game and back it up with a hold to love. Schmiedlova let herself be exposed with a double fault at the start of her service in the sixth, which opened the door for Ostapenko. The 26^th seed struck bug with two winners but watched her opponent force deuce. Schmiedlova didn’t get a chance to place herself an AD point and fell on the second break. With the ball on Ostapenko’s hands, she made sure to stay ahead of the Slovakian and conduct her own winning ways. An ace for match point led the Latvian to notch her 44^th winner of the day and cap the victory in 2 hours and 15 minutes. 

Both players combined for 13 double faults in the match with each of them struggling on the second service. Ostapenko committed 58 unforced errors that she knew would have to be severely limited in the second round. It was there that she would go up with Alison Riske, who had ways of dealing with an aggressive style of tennis.