Ostapenko downs Haddad Maia in three set battle at Miami Open

Jelena Ostapenko during her third round match at the Miami Open against Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Jelena Ostapenko had to gain back her momentum to stay alive at the Miami Open Saturday. The Latvian found her stride late in the final set against Beatriz Haddad Maia, beating the Brazilian 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on Grandstand court on the grounds of the Hard Rock Stadium.

The players met for the fourth time, with the Latvian holding the series against the Brazilian. Their last meeting in Cincinnati went 20 games, but Ostapenko assured herself to be in the lead. Haddad Maia is a strong player when her game is in form, but her action for victory has dropped off, despite her willingness to fight through competitions. The Brazilian went the distance in her last four battles, and while she has had one against Ostapenko, the 24th seed planned not to let her find any dictation after she dismissed the Swede two days ago in straight sets.

The 25-year-old set the bar high with a serve to love against Haddad Maia, but couldn’t get in position to tie in a break. Game three became highly contested when the Brazilian forced deuce and made it a fight for the AD point. She produced two break-point chances, but the 24th seed reached the AD point consecutive times. After seven breaks, Ostapenko secured the service and broke the 13th seed for a 3-1 score.

The Latvian backed up the break, gaining her three-game buffer, but Haddad Maia locked up another service game, sending the Brazilian contingency in the crowd to cheer. Ostapenko remained firm on serve to sit up 5-2, hoping to stop the short life of Haddad Maia’s offense. She raced through the eighth game, achieving two set points, but a long return left her with one to go.

Haddad Maia struggled with the second serve that assisted in double-faulting the set away in 38 minutes to Ostapenko’s benefit. Winners to unforced errors were close on both sides, but a smaller output from Haddad Maia with five explained the outcome.

The Latvian waited for Haddad Maia to return to court during the set break and witnessed a production of good points with a chance to break. Ostapenko saved them to force deuce on serve, on account of the 13th seed’s bad second serve. Waiting for a time to strike, Ostapenko fired an ace to secure the service after a 12-minute battle in the opening game. The 13th seed used her efforts on serve in the second, fighting with the forehand to secure a win against the Latvian.

It was soon 3-1 in favor of Haddad Maia, who got the crowd energized. Ostapenko had enough of being the one trailing and battled on serve in the fifth to gain back her place. They went to deuce, where the 24th seed double-faulted too many times. After reaching six for the match, Haddad Maia had the double break in hand, leading 4-1 with a third set close at hand. Ostapenko pulled off a break back in the sixth, but on serve in the seventh, she committed another double fault that pushed Haddad Maia to victory.

With one game left to attain, the Brazilian had the chance on serve. Ostapenko put the brakes on Haddad Maia, gaining a double break. She backed up the work with a service hold in the ninth, sitting a game down of leveling. Both players took the tenth game to deuce, where Haddad Maia took care of the service and clinched a third set into play after 57 minutes.  Ostapenko chose to take 10 minutes off the court due to the heat rule but also regroup after notching six double faults in the set. Haddad Maia improved on winners, increasing her level of output from the serve to 72 percent.

A break for the Brazilian put her in a good spot to begin the deciding set, converting the break with a strong service hold. Ostapenko was increasingly frustrated, hoping to not let the set run away from her. The 24th seed notched her 10th double fault of the match, which took them to deuce. After three breaks, the Latvian held serve to avoid another big margin for her opponent.

A huge momentum change occurred in the fifth when Ostapenko pulled off a hold of serve and backed it up breaking Haddad Maia in the following game. Gaining back control on both sides of the ball, the Latvian achieved a three-game winning streak forcing an error from the Brazilian. Haddad Maia had problems on serve in the eighth, needing the crowd to get her out of trouble.

They didn’t help her on that front as Ostapenko picked up a fourth consecutive victory, looking for the one to put the 13th seed away. She quickly picked up the match points, gaining three on a long ball from Haddad Maia. The 25-year-old finished off her opponent, laying down a line drive winner to get into the fourth round after 2 hours and 19 minutes.

“I was sick for twelve days, but today I felt good and really happy today to win, and of course, the crowd was mostly against me,” said Ostapenko after her match. “I’m really proud of myself, that I was fighting and been working hard on my consistency. I was fighting till the last point, and she’s like a great player and really proud of myself and how I managed it.”