Jelena Ostapenko picks up second career grass court title in Birmingham

Jelena Ostapenko wins the Rothesay Classic Championship in her straight sets victory over Barbora Krejcikova in Birmingham.

Jelena Ostapenko was champion at the Rothesay Classic Sunday. The Latvian clinched her first singles title of the year and sixth of her career, ending a 16-month wait for the championship. Barbora Krejcikova gave it her all in the first set but fell in a 7-6(8), 6-4 result on Ann Jones Center Court at the Edgbaston Priory Tennis Club. The 25-year-old now had titles in both singles and doubles events at the venue.

The two former champions of Roland Garros faced off in their seventh chapter and, first to occur on grass. The Czech’s run in singles play on grass hasn’t gone as well as her doubles play, but having not lost a set to this point, put her on the path of winning her fourth title of the season. The Latvian went the distance in all four matches in Birmingham, defeating Anastasia Potopova in the semifinal. Playing with an injury to the calf gave the number one seed a leg up, but the second seed wouldn’t give up her chance for a maiden title this year.

Both players opened the match with successive holds of serve, with Ostapenko ramping it up after a second shutout. Krejcikova continued to hold her end in the fourth, but the second seed went for another shutout. She finally gave the Czech a point on a shot into the net and put her to deuce on a double fault. Ostapenko turned her problems around, getting the serve done on the first AD point.

Krejcikova held steady in the sixth, drawing the score level after holding the Latvian from a breakpoint. The second seed felt the pressure in the seventh but refused to give up her service holds. After nine games, neither player gave an inch of leverage, making the business end of the set tense. Krejcikova held the second seed to a point, sending the players to the distance. They held the next two games before the tiebreak, that still saw each of them holding points from their serve.

It all changed on the sixth point when Ostapenko scored the minibreak to lead 4-2. The Czech got one to level back but gave the lead back on the following point. The Latvian scored an important mini-break to give her two set points. The Czech delivered a backhander that came back tough for the second seed to keep in. On her second set point, Ostapenko erred into the net to keep Krejcikova in the competition.

On the 15th point, Krejcikova got into position to play for the set only to see Ostapenko even the score at eight-all. The 25-year-old fired a winner to gain her fourth set point and took the victory on an error from Krejcikova, who sent one into the net. It was a 58-minute battle that saw three break points through 12 games and no loss of serve. The tiebreak went 18 points, with five minibreaks, that assisted in Ostapenko’s victory. "It was the key moment," said Ostapenko about the big push for the lead. "I was really close from 5-1 to 5-4, and I managed somehow and really happy about it."

The 25-year-old rolled into the second, scoring the first break of the match against Krejcikova. She went on to back it up on serve to gain a short buffer until the top seed cut it in half. Ostapenko regained the margin in the fourth and hunted down the double break in the fifth. Krejcikova sent a long ball behind the baseline that gave her the biggest lead of the day by either of them.

The second seed played well at the net to start the sixth game, showing relentless measure to get into position and take it all. She allowed Krejcikova two points before a wide return put her up 5-1. The 27-year-old was under pressure, dealing with intense winners from her opponent, who played for the championship. The two went to deuce, making the game highly competitive for Krejcikova to contain. Errors from Ostapenko made that possible for the top seed, but struggles for Czech got her into trouble after a double fault.

After five breaks, the number one seed held her ground against Ostapenko, notching a second win. The Latvian served for the title in the eighth game, giving up the first two points to Krejcikova on shots into the net. Ostapenko notched her first point on a cross-court winner, but Krejcikova answered with a return winner that set her up to break in the match. A momentum swing occurred for the Czech, who held strong in the ninth, sitting a game down from leveling the set.

Ostapenko was back on serve for the title, but errors were costly for the 25-year-old. She managed to contain them, watching Krejcikova deliver the free points to the second seed. The Latvian scored another point from the Czech before getting it done on a winner that ended her journey after 1 hour and 50 minutes. 

It was the first match Ostapenko played in straight sets and one that she will be pleased with. She wont get time to relax with a week before Wimbledon but will celebrate another success on grass.