Jelena Ostapenko wins a spot in Birmingham semifinal after three set battle

Jelena Ostapenko celebrates a big victory against Magdalena Frech at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham, England. 

Magdalena Frech was cut short of a defining moment at the Rothesay Classic Friday. Jelena Ostapenko dug in through an injury to stay confident and take the victory in three sets against the Polish qualifier in a 4-6 7-5, 6-2 result on Ann Jones Center Court at the Edgbaston Priory Club. The Latvian was proficient on the first serve, which assisted in her being down, but not out.

The second seed faced heavy challenges against tennis veteran Venus Williams Thursday. The American went through the motions of what Ostapenko brought to the court, stamping her place in the second set to send them the distance. Coming back from 0-3 in the third, the Latvian took control and won six straight to close out the day. Frech played a long one against Sorana Cirstea, defeating the eighth seed in three sets. The qualifier was on a run of good times on the grass, setting herself up to be in the Top 60 if she makes the semifinal.

The opening game was a challenge for the second seed, with double faults causing her trouble. It handed Frech chances to breakpoints when she forced deuce. Ostapenko stopped the threats early but couldn’t lock down the AD point. After five breaks and three attempts, the 25-year-old closed out her service. Frech kept her service game shorter, despite going to deuce where it lasted a point.

Ostapenko managed to shake off the rush and score a serve to love in the third. She went for the chance to add a break herself, but the Polish qualifier stopped two. Frech assured herself to stay tight on the score and wait for her chance to break later when it would count. Ostapenko added further consistency to her offense, keeping the games short and maintaining her lead in the set.

Through eight games of service, all was well on both sides after Frech pulled off a shutout of the second seed. She went for broke, gaining three breakpoints to deny Ostapenko in the ninth. She put everything into her serve for the set, playing 11 points where she had three opportunities, getting it done in 45 minutes. It was a shock for many, who expected the second seed to run one way, but the unforced errors and double faults proved costly.

The second set was in the hands of Frech, who started things with a break of the second seed. The Polish qualifier consolidated the service in the second and tied in the double break for a 3-0 lead. Ostapenko called for the physio and had her left calf taped up due to pain in the area. In the fourth, it was apparent that the injury was troubling her performance against Frech, who went on to take a fourth victory.

The Latvian managed to push the brakes and hold serve in the set in the fifth. She called for the trainer a second time, but there was little they could do to alleviate the pain. Ostapenko took a different path in the situation and from 0-40 down, came back to break Frech for a second victory. Consolidating the efforts was in the cards for the 25-year-old, who fought back to sit a game down of leveling the score.

The second seed continued her march and achieved the double break to come back from such a wide deficit. Getting the lead did not prove easy, but despite the fight from Frech, Ostapenko managed to cut off breakpoints for the Polish qualifier and lead 5-4. Frech served to stay alive in the set, holding Ostapenko to a point to stop the winning streak. The Latvian controlled the 11th and went for it all in the 12th, dominating with her return game to take the second in 61 minutes. Though her serve percentage was lower than the opening set, she committed two double faults and limited the errors. Finding consistency allowed her to have a chance to do well in the decider.

She opened the final set with a second shutout of Frech, before the qualifier got a win on the board. It was still in Ostapenko’s hands as she held serve in the third, waiting for her time to make a difference in the pace. After four holds of serve, the Latvian went for the push in the fifth to secure the service and get into Frech’s. The second seed flew through the sixth, taking four straight after the Polish qualifier notched a point.

Ostapenko consolidated the break and had a three-game buffer to play for the match on Frech’s serve in the eighth. Frech felt the pressure and made errors that handed the victory to Ostapenko after 2 hours and 19 minutes. “I’m just really happy with myself that I was fighting, and it was a completely different game from the day before,” said Ostapenko. She’ll await the winner between Heather Dart and Anastasia Potapova for Saturday’s semifinal.