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| Jelena Ostepanko celebrates her opening round of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open. |
Jelena Ostapenko coasted to victory after a strong performance at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open Tuesday night. The eighth seed won her 14th match of 16 played taking down Anhelina Kalinina 6-0, 6-3 on Grandstand 1 Court at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex. The Latvian had 30 winners, six aces, and 12 unforced errors to make the third round.
The Latvian faced the Ukrainian for a fourth time and the first since 2022 when she won both matches. Ostapenko carried a 13-2 record on the WTA tour, coming off her seventh WTA title at Linz. The 26-year-old didn’t know when to quit as her stamina proved stronger than anyone on the tour. Having been a champion and finalist in the past, she’ll try to avoid going out early like she did two years ago. Getting Kalinina was a break for the slam champion, but her opponent’s win over Emma Raducanu on Monday stood out. With one big name off the draw, the Ukrainian would go for broke and try to make it two in a row.
Ostapenko got a terrific start from the baseline, holding the Ukrainian from making any threats to her service game. The eighth seed wiggled away on the last point of the second, breaking Kalinina to back it up on serve for a 3-0 run. The 27-year-old double-faulted for a second time, opening the door for Ostapenko to dictate. She put a bow on the fourth game, driving a return down the tramline, widening her lead in the set.
The Latvian battled briefly with Kalinina in the fifth at deuce. A winner in the open court on the first AD point handed Ostapenko another victory. The Ukrainian struggled with the serve, making it easy for the eighth seed to smack the returns hard. It was two set point chances for Ostapenko, who didn’t do much to earn the win after 22 minutes, watching Kalinina err the serve into the net. The Latvian had double the success from the 1st serve than her opponent, who served 38 percent. With a low output and 16 winners from the eighth seed, it had been a one-woman show in the first.
An ace was the first score Ostapenko put up to start the second, stretching the Ukrainian to crack under the pressure. When it came time for Kalinina to serve, she improved with an 80 percent service output, assisting in her snapping the seven-game slide. It didn’t take anything away from Ostapenko, who served Kalinina to love in the third. The eighth seed backed things up with a break, scoring easy on return winners.
A surprise came in the fifth when the Ukrainian battled to deuce and captured the break over Ostapenko, putting her a game behind. She managed to level the score, getting the best of the Latvian once more to back up the break. Despite the slip-up, Ostapenko reeled her service game in and got back on track, regaining the lead. The Latvian scored the break to serve for a place in the third round, taking very little time to get it done. She landed her sixth ace of the night, drew an error, lost a point, and landed a winner for a match point. Ostapenko forced a final error from Kalinina to end it all in 53 minutes.
For the third time this season, it was Ostapenko facing Victoria Azarenka in a hot matchup Wednesday.
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