Jelena Ostapenko let up too much to fall out early at the Sydney Tennis Classic Monday. Despite a fantastic start against Paula Badosa, the world number nine got into a new gear and won 7-6(1), 6-1 at Ken Rosewall Arena. It was a key win for the fifth seed, who wanted to forget about last week and be at the best of her gameplay.
The two met for the third time with the Latvian evening the series with Badosa at St. Petersburg last year. Since her WTA 1000 title win at Indian Wells, the Spaniard completed 2021 with a pair of losses at the WTA Masters. With a loss in Adelaide looming over her, the 24-year-old came into Sydney with her mission set high. As Ostapenko stood as her first obstacle, the Spaniard hoped to etch another win and make Sydney a big jump before the coming slam. Despite being cut short at Indian Wells, Ostapenko had an opportunity to build upon how well she did at the tail end and bring a lot of light onto her game.
She followed Badosa to open the set and matched what the 24-year-old brought to the court. They went to hold serve through the next four games until a moment in the seventh saw Ostapenko force deuce. Badosa showed no struggle, managing to find the game point and stay 4-0 on service. Ostapenko followed suit and found a way to strike in the ninth with three breakpoints on the fifth seed. A double fault from Badosa caused her to lose focus and hand the Latvian her first chance for the set.
The Spaniard responded with a jump to 40-0 putting Ostapenko behind. She managed to force deuce, but after a break, the fifth seed managed to score the break back. With things back on track, Badosa held firm with the serve followed by a serve to love from Ostapenko that sent them to a tiebreak. It was there that the fifth seed had the Latvian right where she wanted her.
Winning two points on the Ostapenko’s serve, the 24-year-old ran to a four-point run, allowed the Latvian a point, and went on to win the set with the next two points. It was a 55-minute battle that saw them doing well on the first serve, but an edge for Badosa minimizing forehand errors led to her leading the match.
The Latvian began service in the second but faced an offensive Badosa, who pressed the issue of conducting her attack and won the first break. Ostapenko managed to break back but suffered a double break by the fifth seed. She backed it up in the fourth despite having problems with her ball toss. Badosa continued her tear through Ostapenko, who dropped another service game.
It was soon 5-1 for the fifth seed, who had the Latvian all but out of the tournament. Ostapenko erred too much during the final serve that gave Badosa the win on a long ball right in front of her. It was a 1 hour and 21-minute effort from the fifth seed, who will await her second-round match on Wednesday.
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