Jelena Ostapenko went to three sets but came out a winner at the US Open Monday night. The 20th seed had a rough second set, but turned it around in the final set with Jasmine Paolini to win 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 on Court 12 at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center. The Latvian had six beautiful aces but numerous double faults and errors.
The Italian came into her fourth appearance in the year’s final major, holding a previous victory over her opponent’s head. Though it came nine years ago, Paolini needed the notion to help her with a 4-11 record in first-round majors against top 20 players. Ostapenko won two matches in her last three tournaments, leaving her vulnerable to an early exit. The Latvian did make the quarterfinal in the three previous majors this season, but her opponent put in a lot more time on the hard courts since the grass court season ended. In Cincinnati, Paolini played six matches before losing in the quarterfinal, giving her a lot of momentum to make a strong run in New York.
Ostapenko made her mark to begin the set despite being forced to deuce. The 20th seed produced two breakpoints before notching the break for a two-game lead on Paolini. Back on serve in the third, the Latvian fired winners and an ace for a 40-0 run before capping it with a crosscourt winner. The Italian responded with a serve to love in the fourth and later made it a two-game margin after her service in the sixth.
Ostapenko stopped Paolini from gaining another victory, holding the seventh and breaking her in the eighth to take the set. It was a 30-minute run for the 20th seed, who had the most winners but also errors with 16. The Italian’s second serve got her into the competition late, but consistency had to come in order to make a threat.
She started the second set, breaking Ostapenko, but suffered a break back to love by the 20th seed. The Italian brushed off the loss of serve, clinching the double break and backing it up on serve in the fourth. The double faults were rolling in for Ostapenko, notching six in the set after five games. She managed to overcome her struggles and force deuce to contain the service. Paolini kept the heat on the 20th seed, winning on serve to build up confidence in her offense that was leading the way.
Ostapenko was fighting to dig back into her service game, but the Italian was all over her in the seventh. The two went five breaks until the 20th seed got the AD point clinched on a service winner. A break for the Latvian arrived in the eighth when Paolini suffered a double fault. She then made two errors from the backhand that brought Ostapenko level. Double faults continued to rattle the 26-year-old, notching two more to hand a break back to Paolini.
The Italian put her offense to work on serve and sealed up the second set in 47 minutes. While her service points rolled along fine, the double faults from Ostapenko broke hers apart. The same went for her return game, leaving her to remain in pieces or find a way to take control back.
She got into comeback mode right off the bat, holding the Italian back while on serve. Paolini followed suit, but the third set was going the way Ostapenko wanted. She contained the third easily hunting down a chance of a break. Forcing errors on Paolini, the 20th seed almost had a shutout but let one slip. She dominated in the following two games, handling deuce in the fifth and allowing a point to the Italian in the sixth. The Latvian served for the match with the double break in hand but got into a 30-all tie. She fired two winners, with the last one cross-courting the forced error to end her night in 1 hour and 48 minutes.
It was another match filled with good points and bad for the 26-year-old, who had 54 winners to Paolini’s nine, but the 41 errors and 11 double faults were a lot to have had the finish the 20th seed produced. She’ll need to tone it down facing the winner between Alize Corner or Elina Avanesyan in the second round.
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