Peyton Stearns took a big victory in stride at the French Open Wednesday. The young American went the distance against Jelena Ostapenko, defeating the 2017 champion 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 on Court 14 at Roland Garros. It marked the second win for Stearns in Paris and the biggest one of her career.
The 2017 champion had a messy output from her offense but managed to win her opening round in straight sets. Facing the American would be no easier, as she was running hot after winning a grand slam match outside the United States. Stearns had a break against Katerina Siniakova, who was still dealing with an injury. With plenty of time on the clay courts, she had the opportunity to focus on the target that the Latvian donned, hoping to pull off an upset.
Stearns opened the match with a strong break of Ostapenko, pressing the return side that struggled early. The Latvian tried to break the American after forcing deuce, but couldn’t produce enough breakpoints. Ostapenko denied Stearns another break, holding her back from deuce in the third. The American wasn’t fazed and took the next two for a commanding 4-1 lead, with two breaks in hand.
Ostapenko attempted to change the pace, but Stearns forced deuce and played through the motions to contain her service after three breaks. The American played for the opening set, smacking fast returns across to Ostapenko, who was in position fast enough. She found depth in her court positioning, making it easier to dictate the rally, and hold serve. There were three games to recover from, leaving Stearns with plenty of chances to take the set.
Ostapenko broke the American to get back on serve and cut further into the gap, but errors during deuce in the ninth ultimately gave the American the set after 38 minutes. Ostapenko’s second serve underperformed below 30 percent, despite having 13 winners. The lag in offense allowed Stearns plenty of room to be a setup against the former champ.
The Latvian brought a cleaner game to the second set, breaking Stearns and topping the second with a beautiful service. The American responded with a shutout in the third, but despite her fight in the fourth, keeping the AD points from Ostapenko proved difficult. In the late stages, the 17th seed rallied to get out of a jam and remain ahead of Stearns. She got to 5-1, closing in on the assurance of controlling the pace and keeping the pressure on Stearns.
The 21-year-old watched the Latvian conduct herself well, achieving two set points, and taking the victory on a long return. It was a successful 29 minutes for Ostapenko, who improved phenomenally, scoring better than 70 percent on the first serve and improved return game. Ostapenko kept the unforced errors to a minimum, giving her confidence that she could handle the final set better than her opponent.
Stearns had other ideas and came out hot in the third, winning seven of the first ten points played. With the break in hand, she held Ostapenko to a point in the second, looking for a way to keep the Latvian back. The 25-year-old served Stearns to love in the third, only to see the American regain her two-game lead by the same result. She moved on to grabbing another break of Ostapenko, gaining a 4-1 grip on the set.
Stearns made it 5-1 on a fast-paced offense that ended on a well-placed return during the sixth point of play. She had the Latvian under intense pressure to stay alive in the match but managed to hold Stearns from forcing deuce in the seventh. The American had her first attempt to serve for the match but had to force deuce on serve. She was gifted a match point on a shot from Ostapenko that ended in the net. The American stayed focused and won it on a wide return from her opponent, allowing her to celebrate a major victory that took 1 hour and 42 minutes to accomplish.
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