Jelena Ostapenko fights back to straight sets result at French Open

Jelena Ostapenko smashes a forehand during her opening round match at the French Open. 

Jelena Ostapenko showed why she is a former champion at the French Open Monday night. Sitting 1-5 down in the second set, the 17th seed charged back against Tereza Martincova to hold her off in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 on Court 7 at Roland Garros.

The two met back in 2021, where the Czech won their only meeting, taking place on grass in Birmingham. The tables turned in favor of the Latvian, who won the slam six years ago and had a great run on the clay courts. Her efforts took her to the semifinal of Rome, losing a tough one to Elena Rybakina, who went on to take the WTA 1000 title. Holding a better record on the surface than Martincova, the 25-year-old had a great chance at dispatching her for back-to-back first-round exits.

She came out of the gates with a mixed bag of winners and unforced errors. Her path of struggling led them to deuce, where she held the service on a final winner. The Czech drew a pair of errors from Ostapenko before holding serve. Ostapenko remained wild on serve in the third, recording a total of four winners and three unforced errors. Despite playing three breaks of deuce, the Latvian held after a forced error by Martincova.

The 29-year-old served to love in the third and pushed Ostapenko to get ahead in the fifth. She drove a return at the 17th seed, who couldn’t get it back just right. With a break in hand, Martincova wanted to have the leverage, but Ostapenko rallied to 40-0 for the break. The Czech saved a point, but the 25-year-old kept it in check, leveling the score at three-all. She served up a chance to blank Martincova, but the Czech got back within reach of deuce.

The 17th seed fired a shot that didn’t make its way back, gaining the lead in response. Ostapenko scored the break on a winner and moved right into serving for the set. It was another messy performance by the Latvian, who went back-to-back on winners and unforced errors. Martincova was close to forcing deuce until Ostapenko capped it on a winner after the five-shot rally ending the first in 36 minutes. The second serve performance by the 17th seed saved her from overturning the momentum along, with the 15 winners recorded.

Martincova opened the second set in what became the longest contest of the match. They played 14 points where two double faults from the Czech nearly ended her serve early. She battled back to play four breaks with the 25-year-old, who dropped an error at the end. Ostapenko was trounced in the second, allowing the Czech to press the forehand to break the 17th seed.

The 29-year-old consolidated the break for a 3-0 hold and went into the fourth, hunting down a chance for the double break. It didn’t come easy for Martincova, but the unforced errors by Ostspenko brought up breakpoints late in the fourth. She took a commanding 4-0 lead on the 17th seed, who struggled to find consistency. Ostapenko pulled off a break back in the fifth, ending her slide, but the Czech scored the triple break to lead 5-1 and serve for a shot at going the distance.

The seventh game went five breaks until Ostapenko clinched the break to stay alive. She tried to go for another on serve, moving well on the court to set up the forehand winners and inch closer. Martincova was back on serve for the set in the ninth, but the Latvian denied her opponent set point on the fifth played. Ostapenko forced deuce and held the lone AD point to sit a game down. In the tenth, the 17th seed dominated on serve, allowing Martincova a point before closing the gap.

Winners continued to flow from the 25-year-old, who got a jump on the Czech’s service, getting in front of a lot of balls. Two errors into the net leveled the score for the 29-year-old, who watched Ostapenko’s aggressive tennis lead to further errors. A return on game point helped the Latvian force deuce, and after two breaks, she had the opportunity to go for the match.

The 17th seed watched a drop shot attempt go sour for Martincova on the opening point. A big line drive winner was too tough for the Czech to get back, and won the third on a check from the umpire. She delivered the defeat to Martincova on a forced error to pull off a huge comeback and make it to the second round after 1 hour and 43 minutes.