Jelena Ostapenko fought through the tension and struggles to come in front at the Hana Bank Korea Open Tuesday night. Boyoung Jeong took advantage of the numerous double faults and errors the Latvian committed, but couldn’t dig into the tiebreak, losing 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) on center court at the Olympic Park Tennis Stadium.
The Latvian made her fourth appearance in the South Korean capital, looking to add her second hard court title this season. Her second career title victory came at the tournament in 2017 after winning the French Open. With the Asian swing of the season in action and attaining the top seed, Ostapenko has a chance to be the one in charge.
She didn’t put her best foot forward and notched a double fault to start the competition. Relying on the second serve led to her service breaking against Jeong, who came into her serve neck and neck with Ostapenko. The Latvian managed to break back, and score an ace to start the third game. It led to another hold, putting her two games out front. Jeong scored a double break at the hands of Ostapenko, who delivered the errors that made it so.
The Korean leveled the score in the sixth, controlling the late stages of the score in it. Jeong notched another break, with the assistance of Ostapenko, who ran into further issues with the serve. The number one seed pulled off a break back that made it four-all, right before she drew errors in the ninth that assisted in gaining back the lead. Having Jeong right where she wanted her, the 25-year-old rallied for the break and the set, drawing errors from the teen and walking away with the set in 38 minutes.
Ostapenko’s saving grace was Jeong’s serve percentages and numerous errors, but it wasn’t enough to keep her opponent back. She opened the second set breaking the Latvian, who returned the favor and had a 2-1 lead after going long in the second. The serve to love from Ostapenko didn’t take much from the 19-year-old, who stayed in control and moved right along with the top seed.
They held serve in the next two games, until a string of errors from the Latvian caused her to suffer another break. The change in momentum sat with Jeong, who saved breakpoints on her serve, forcing deuce and holding the AD point twice to lead 5-3. She watched as Ostapenko struggled with the forehand, racking up the errors that handed the teen a chance to go for the match after 43 minutes. The stats swung the wrong way for the number one seed, whose serve percentages dwindled to be in a fight for her time in Korea.
The teen knew she had much to gain from knocking out a number one seed, but doing so on serve was not meant to be. Ostapenko rallied to a break and consolidated for a 2-0 run on Jeong. The teen responded with a key hold of serve, breaking the Latvian in the fourth to level the score. They held through the next pair of games, but the seventh spelled trouble for Jeong as Ostapenko upped the ante, forcing deuce and achieving breakpoints to score the lead back.
The 25-year-old held Jeong to love in the eighth, but getting a break in the ninth was not in the cards. Jeong played hard to defend her service game, scoring the victory with a shot behind Ostapenko. Sitting a game down, Ostapenko gifted the tenth with her eighth double fault. The 25-year-old erred to give Jeong triple break point, sealing it with a winner to Ostapenko’s left. Jeong backed up the break with a strong hold of serve, looking great to upset the Latvian. The top seed refused to give it up on serve and pulled off a serve to love before heading into a tiebreak.
It was there that Ostapenko held her game together long enough to dictate most of the points played and hold Jeong far back. Drawing an error from the teen for match point, Ostapenko sealed the win on a long ball return from the Korean that ended her struggles in 2 hours and 13 minutes. The 25-year-old had a messy night out on the court, recording nine errors for the first time in recent match play. The inconsistencies needed to sort out before doing business with Anastasia Gasanova in the second round.
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