Jelena Ostapenko speeds through opening round in straight sets at Porsche Tennis GP

Jelena Ostapenko was focused on her service game during the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix against Emma Raducanu 

Jelena Ostapenko put on a display of speed during the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Tuesday night. The Latvian delivered a barrage of winners against Emma Raducanu, who couldn’t comeback to make a dent in a 6-2, 6-1 result on center court at the Porsche Arena. Ostapenko tallied 26 winners to the Brit’s six in a near rout.

The world number 22 wanted a better start than last year’s clay court run where she won a single match through three tournaments. Transitioning to the clay was no problem for the former French Open champion, who was more than comfortable playing on a familiar surface. The same could went for Raducanu, who made her surface debut in Stuttgart, winning two matches straight. While she hasn’t been able to tally multiple wins so far this season, the 20-year-old wanted to be able to level the series with Ostapenko at one apiece at their first clay court competition.

Raducanu earned her shot to set the pace early, but after holding Ostapenko to a point, she watched in horror at the winners and speed that the Latvian possessed. The 25-year-old served to love in the second then fought late in the third for the break. Raducanu got some points on the board in the third, but getting up to speed against Ostapenko, proved difficult. The Latvian consolidated well from the fourth, capturing the double break in the fifth. She added a second love service for good measure before the Brit locked down a second service game.

Despite her efforts, Ostapenko remained laser-focused, bringing a lightning end to the first, where she held Raducanu to a point, ending 29 minutes of play. The 20-year-old knew she had time to figure things out and put together a serve to love against the Latvian, hoping that would settle things. The 25-year-old responded on a late push from her service in the second, followed by a break to love in the third.

She backed it up and went on a rampage, blanking Raducanu from both sides of the court, achieving another double break. It was 5-1 for the aggressive Latvian, who faced her longest battle with Raducanu that went to deuce. The sixth only went two breaks after Ostapenko killed Raducanu’s breakpoint chance and held serve. With a massive lead in the second set, Ostapenko took every point in stride and set herself up with a victory to break the British star one last time, closing out the match in 58 minutes.

The Latvian returned herself to the round of sixteen for the third time in her career, scoring four aces and committing 18 errors that were overshadowed by her offense. She won more than three-quarters of points from the first serve, and of the 26 winners, 19 came from the forehand. It was a strong output from the world number 22, who would face off Wednesday night against green clay court champion Ons Jabeur.