Jelena Ostapenko saw her game come and go but somehow got into the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy Friday night. The Latvian battled herself and Aliaksandra Sasnovich through three sets, where she dug in late to win 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 at Sibur Arena.
The two met for the fourth time and the second on this same court back in their ITF days. The Latvian held every win against the Belorussian, including their two battles at Wimbledon. Sasnovich had a hard fight to open her tournament run, but improved in her second-round match against an unknown opponent. Coming in against the fierce fifth seed, who decimated Andrea Petkovic on Thursday had to expect another tough outing.
Ostapenko had a good opening to the match and went for a break quickly in the second. Sasnovich forced deuce from 40-30, drawing an error from Ostapenko to sit with an AD point. The Belorussian sealed her service game with an ace down the T, making sure she kept the situation level. The two remained on serve through four games, until a hold from Ostapenko showed an increase in her aggression.
Holding Sasnovich to a point, she went hot against the Belorussian’s service, reaching breakpoint at 40-30 to lead. The 27-year-old broke back in the seventh backing it up in the eighth, putting them back to even strength. Ostapenko wanted nothing to do with being even with her opponent, and in the ninth, fought hard to hold serve. With the lead in hand, the Latvian attempted to rattle Sasnovich, who served to keep the set going.
The Belorussian fired an ace down the line and kept ahead of the seventh seed before reaching game point. The right-hander drew an error from Ostapenko that put them at five-all, making little moments count to keep her close. The Latvian wasn’t having an easy time at closing out her service games, but keeping Sasnovich back on another fight for the AD point saw her scream out the frustrations.
It was a final moment for the Belorussian to hold and force a tiebreak or get cut short. They went to deuce on a push from Ostapenko, but a double fault handed the seventh seed a critical point. Sasnovich fought it off to bring up another chance that brought up a first-set tiebreak. She started things off with a mini-break of the seventh seed but watched the next four points go the way of the 24-year-old.
They traded the next four points, with Sasnovich trying to close the gap. Ostapenko remained in charge, and with a 6-3 stand she tried to get the set point but saw the 27-year-old fire an unreturnable winner. Sasnovich was within a point, but on Ostapenko’s fourth attempt, she painted the tramline to end 58 minutes of action in the first. It was a very close fight between the two as they had similar numbers on unforced errors and winners. Only two points separated them in the set, giving Ostapenko the indication that the next would not get easier.
The Belorussian opened the set gifting the Latvian points from errors, but battled to try and force deuce. Ostapenko denied her that chance, scoring the early break. She backed it up in the second with a hold of serve, but Sasnovich had the same idea. She went into her service and then backed it up with a break to sit even with the seventh seed. The Latvian was tired of being even with Sasnovich and made a push to get away from her in the fifth. Getting to deuce, she picked up the AD point to score the break and backed it up on serve to lead 4-2. Everything for her went south when she drew errors on the Belorussian’s service that cut the margin in half. She then gifted another game in the shape of three double faults, giving Sasnovich a boost of confidence.
She did well on serve in the ninth, drawing errors from the seventh seed, who went down on a long return. A third set looked possible with Ostapenko’s game dropping out of the sky and no sign of her pulling out of it in time. She handed the Belorussian three set points, saved two, but the third went wide which caused her to scream out in anger as a third set was underway after 37 minutes. The numbers were lopsided with Sasnovich improving with 19 winners and a 58 percent first serve.
She came into the third firing shots across to Ostapenko, who looked lost on the court. The 27-year-old locked down the game and went to work playing well on the rallies during Ostapenko’s service. The Latvian struggled to find consistency while fighting off the threat of a break. After eight breaks while saving three chances from Sasnovich, the Latvian found a way to get out of her service and sit even.
The Belorussian was upset at her efforts going south, leading her to serve to love in the third. Ostapenko got another hold of serve in the fourth, despite going to deuce. She somehow found her offense coming back and used it to break Sasnovich and take the lead. It didn’t last long as the 27-year-old broke back to bring the score to three-all. The Latvian was laser-focused during a second return game that resulted in scoring a double break to get back in front.
On serve in the eighth, Ostapenko was again challenged on serve but fought to force deuce. Her aggression was in check and helped her play four breaks to hold against Sasnovich. The Belorussian was in trouble during a critical service that she needed to hold. The seventh seed pushed her way forward, reaching match point to win it on a double fault from the 27-year-old ending a dramatic 2 hour and 27-minute fight.
“Sasha played one of her best matches of all I have seen of late and I was just rushing things up, so I had to wait for my chances and seize them and convert the opportunities,” said Ostapenko, who would move into Saturday’s semifinal await the winner between Annett Kontaveit and Belinda Bencic.
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