Jelena Ostapenko had her experience to get her out of a jam at the Korea Open Thursday. The Latvian had another match full of double faults and errors along with Anastasia Gasanova, winning 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 on center court at the Olympic Tennis Park in Seoul. In what started as a hard-earned set, capturing a double break turned into a fight for control to the distance.
The Latvian made a mess of her opening round, putting too many double faults and unforced errors together. Though she edged out the 19-year-old Korean in a two-and-a-quarter-hour fight, trimming off the problems was key for her to move on through the tournament. Ostapenko failed to put together two or more matches in 9 of 11 tournaments she’s been in this season. Gasanova won her third WTA match of the year in a two-hour onslaught, saving her opponent from taking the first set in the process. Her chances to overcome the top seed would depend on how the 25-year-old’s serve went.
A pair of double faults put Gasanova out front, but the top seed rallied back to force deuce, saving a break and holding the game on the first break. Ostapenko consolidated the early lead, with a break of her opponent, and soon had a grip on the set for a 3-0 lead. Gasanova didn’t get the first serve in place, double-faulting on her second try and handed the double break to Ostapenko.
She managed to break back the top seed in the fifth, gaining a footing in the set for the first time. Gasanova backed up the break of serve for a controlled service that cut Ostapenko’s margin in half. The Latvian held serve through the next three games to come out ahead 6-3 in 37 minutes. She had the better outcome of the two, scoring more points from the first and second serves, while Gasanova managed three of eight from the second serve.
The second was a mess between the two by the third game when the 23-year-old opened the door with another double fault, handing Ostapenko the break and a 2-1 lead. She broke back on account of Ostapenko committing her first double fault of the set. She wouldn’t go through it with just one and opened the door wider for Gasanova to take the break back.
Each of them had a better output from their serves in the following two games, but in the seventh, a double fault nearly caused a break for the Latvian. The 23-year-old was lucky enough to hold her off a break in the seventh but not fortunate in the ninth. Ostapenko scored her second break as her opponent suffered her third of the set.
The Latvian would be lucky with her serve, struggling in the business end where Gasanova leveled the game at five-all on a break. She held firm in the 11th and went all in in the 12th. It was there that Ostapenko’s nerves got the best of her, committing three double faults through the final game. She handed Gasanova three set points, with the last one forcing the two to go to a deciding set after 58 minutes.
Ostapenko blew the match wide open with seven double faults committed, but the performance on serve percentages was even between the two. It was anyone’s match going into the third, meaning holding serve was imperative for the two. The number one seed got the message after a double fault, rallying back from 40-15 only to lose out on the one AD point played. She swept through her service in the second, holding Gasanova to a single point. Taking her positive moment on serve, Ostapenko brought up a breakpoint chance in the third and held after the 23-year-old forced deuce. With a break in hand, the number one seed backed up the effort with a service game in the third, opening the margin to two.
Gasanova had her best service since the opening game of the second set, holding the Latvian to a point. She scored a break that tied them at three-all, making it a race to the finish. It became a messy offense for the 25-year-old, who committed her second double fault. Gasanova sped away in the seventh, achieving a hold to love and then up 5-3 on a third double fault from Ostapenko that turned into a struggle for each of them.
Drawing errors off the 23-year-old helped produce AD points, but converting them proved difficult. After four breaks, Gasanova brought up her third breakpoint of the game and took a huge 5-3 lead, eyeing the upset on the horizon. It was where the 23-year-old blew open a gap in the shape of three double faults. She somehow forced deuce and brought up match point. Once it was blown by a double fault, Gasanova went on to lose the game.
Ostapenko was fortunate to get out of trouble and avoid the upset, powering her way through the tenth to push them to the brink. The Latvian was nearly gifted another way to victory on account of further double faults rattling the 23-year-old. She fought back to force deuce but didn’t get into place to produce another match point. The number one seed did that on serve in the 12th, achieving her moment after five points played to get her place in the quarterfinals after a grueling 2 hours and 37 minutes against her game and her opponent’s.
Despite having another battle with controlling her miscues on offense, the experience of being under stress on the court got her through a second trying competition. With only steps away from the title, the top seed needed to be in better form, playing Victoria Kasintseva next.
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