Jelena Ostapenko rallies to win in three sets at Wimbledon

Jelena Ostapenko hits a forehand across the court to Irina Camelia Begu during their third-round match at the Championships Wimbledon. 

Irina Camelia Begu watched her good start fall completely apart at the Championships Wimbledon Friday. Jelena Ostapenko didn’t have the best attack pattern but managed a stellar service coming through 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to make it to the fourth round for the third time in her career on Court 3 at the All England Tennis Club. The 12th seed notched 28 winners against the competition, indicating her comfort level.

The two met for the third time and first in four years. The Romanian defeated the Latvian in both meetings that occurred on clay courts. With the situation on grass, the 12th seed eyed keeping her consistent play a success and inch closer to the second week. Her defeat of Yanina Wickmayer on Tuesday indicated her strengths to be just where she wanted them. The Latvian had already notched 74 winners in her two wins so far. Despite carrying a losing record against Begu, her focus at the All England has been tough to break. The Romanian had yet to face anyone ranked but did put in the time to defeat Elisabetta Cocciaretto. With her crosshairs aimed at Ostapenko, she’d hope for a third win and a new personal best.

The 25-year-old opened with a serve to love, followed by Begu holding her end in the second game. She went on to add a break for the lead but was broken right back by Ostapenko. On serve in the fifth, she trailed due to a double fault and forced deuce to prevent Begu from getting the double. After saving a break from the Romanian, she played through three more breaks to hold.

Begu leveled the score and again consolidated with a break for a 4-3 lead. The 31-year-old rallied to two games before double faults continued to be a problem for the 12th seed, who let another game slip away. By the time Begu won the set 6-3, Ostapenko tallied six double faults and 22 unforced errors in 31 minutes.

All of her troubles turned around in a dominant fashion after Begu recorded a win during the opening game of the second set. Ostapenko answered in the second with a second serve to love and was then gifted the third game on a troubling service from Begu. Double faults rattled the Romanian to lose on serve and quickly find herself two games down. The 31-year-old tried to reel in her troubles, but two double faults made that difficult. It resulted in Ostapenko scoring the double break for a 4-1 stand.  

The 12th seed went into the sixth game feeling comfortable with her game which sat her a game away from leveling the match. Begu’s offense wasn’t in a strong position and double-faulted a fifth time before errors cost her a chance to stay alive and give Ostapenko the victory after 29 minutes. With the momentum, Ostapenko managed to speed the games along, which led to Begu struggling where her five aces in the set were negated, with zero percent return points won and just 27 from the second serve.

She took a bathroom break, leaving Ostapenko on the court to freeze up. Luckily, the break wasn’t long as the Romanian returned to begin the decider. Ostapenko rushed through the first with a strong service and linked a break of serve in the second with help from a double fault on Begu. The Latvian took a commanding 3-0 score before Begu managed her way onto the scoreboard.

The 25-year-old brushed off the missed chance to bagel her opponent and went into the fifth game with a mission. She batted off a double fault and held serve to keep her three-game lead on Begu, who had to dig in. A sliced serve came back in the shape of a line drive winning return and another pair of winners to break Begu to love. It was the perfect setup for her to serve for the match where she handled an error and watched the Romanian give her an edge. An unreturnable serve brought up match point, which came on a return into the net from the 31-year-old, ending the day on court in 1 hour and 29 minutes.

“When I was down, I felt that I didn’t play my game very well,” Ostapenko said during her on-court interview. “I was then motivated and wanted to get back into it and play my game. She started the match very well, but I didn’t bring my level.” “I started to play a little smarter and just managed to win the match.” She’ll await the winner between Maria Sakkari or Tatiana Maria in what will be a major clash on middle Sunday.