Ostapenko overcomes near defeat to win three setter against Townsend

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Jelena Ostapenko rallied back at the right time at the US Open Thursday. A much needed break for her in between the second and third sets had her in focus to keep Taylor Townsend

at bay in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win on Court Five at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.

Both players struggled to come up with the win in their opening round matches and would certainly find themselves in a fight for a spot in the round of 32. Townsends power shots facing against Ostapenko’s aggression was a recipe for a clash of mistakes to mix into it. Despite the ability to hit hard, accuracy was a full skill that the American was missing. The same went for the Latvian who put too much on the ball during her returns that kept her from winning easy points. With one looking to continue her personal best and the other trying to repeat last year’s result, the idea of having their game together would determine who could command a lead and keep it.

She got out to 40-15 on Townsend but got into trouble as the American swung the score to deuce before winning the break. Alongside the great start, Townsend held off a break back from Ostapenko to get out front on the board. The 12^th seed served tough to contain a service hold in the third in hopes to get in an offensive standpoint. Her success in the third stemmed to leveling the score at two all due to a warm up of the forehand.

Townsend was aware of the differences in her opponents’ tactics and made sure to jump back ahead on the score quick. She made her mark in the fifth forcing deuce that spanned four breaks where by the time ten minutes had elapsed, the American achieved the lead. Very little was taken from Townsends energy that she gained another break to lead by more than half. Ostapenko wouldn’t let her get another in the seventh making an important hold stick.

It was going to take more than her efforts to keep the American back as the two game deficit return with the 22 year old playing for the set. Ostapenko swung big in the ninth making sure her best shots gave her the win to keep the set alive. It wouldn’t be enough as Townsend was on a mission to use her strengths and get across the line which was done in 41 minutes. She had 72 percent of points won from the first serve and 71 from the second that took its toll on Ostapenko who had 19 errors and a second serve under 30 percent.

Knowing she had to make a big difference coming into the second, Ostapenko fought back Townsend to contain her service. She tried to get serious with redirecting Townsend left and right but erred enough to give Townsend the hold she needed. They remained on serve through five before Ostapenko made a serious push to break Townsend.

After a fight on the breaks of deuce, the Latvian accomplished her mission to open up a lead for herself and make a third set possible. The American was still at a highly competitive level but couldn’t stop the momentum the 12^th seed was running with. With the three game winning streak in hand, Ostapenko went for the set in the eighth, but ran into trouble letting Townsend in to secure her service hold.

With two more chances to bring the set to a close, the world number 12 made good to defend herself in the ninth to level the match with a victory that ended 41 minutes. Her improvement on getting first serve points was essential to getting a chance for a decider. Though the second serve didn’t make a massive turnaround she got it up enough to brush off the problems and focus on the third with a ten minute mandatory break.

When the third set began, Ostapenko pushed herself to dictate a lead quick before Townsend got to speed. She was up 2-0 before the 22 year old got on the board with a key hold going forward. The winners were coming up big for the Latvian who used her focus to create another step in the right direction. She got into trouble against Townsend’s attack that had her at 40-0. The 12^th seed got out of trouble putting her opponent out of the way to force deuce. She made the fourth game count with a 3-1 lead but still had Townsend trailing by one after her service hold in the fifth.

The American took a medical timeout for an issue with her foot before getting into the sixth where she looked to even the score with Ostapenko. With a lot of effort on her part, the 22 year old got the win followed by the approval of the crowd in the stands cheering her on. She made it two straight with a service hold in the seventh followed by the Latvian who knew that every point counted. She went the distance in the ninth where getting leverage for the AD point was key to her survival as a seeded player.

After two breaks, she successfully managed the victory that handed her a chance to end the match on her terms. With big hits to get out front on the score, the 21 year old gave very little to Townsend who saw the end closing in. A pop fly return on Ostapenko’s second match point landed out giving the world number 12 a huge sigh of relief and another day to play on after finishing 2 hour and 19 minutes.

It was not a great day for the Latvian who played against her own devastating gameplay. She

overcame 15 double faults in the match that was saved by her first service game and 52 winners that overcame that and her 47 unforced errors. With the notion of not wanting a similar result, Ostapenko would brush up on her response before facing the winner between Sorana Cirstea and Maria Sharapova Saturday.

Vondrousova closes Bouchard in straight sets at US Open

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Eugenie Bouchard’s problems came back to haunt her at the US Open. The Canadian who showed a lot of fight became vulnerable against Marketa Vondrousova who relentlessly etched out a straight sets win 6-4, 6-3 on Court 17 to advance to the third round at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.

The two played for the first time in what was another important match for them to perform well on. Both needed something big in their careers to build together and with straight sets wins in their opening round matches, the faceoff in the second round was essential. The 19 year old had nothing to lose and more to gain from playing Bouchard who wanted the best career finish to end a slam on. With that being an important task, the Canadian needed to be able to handle anyone put in front of her.

She found herself broken early by Vondrousova and quickly down two games unable to break through the offense the young Czech had created. She made her service game the utmost important to secure avoiding going down any further. She stayed within a game of Vondrousova before breaking back on a bad return lob from the Czech teen that leveled the score at three all.

The Canadian lost her chance to hold in the seventh earning Vondrousova a break back to put her back into the lead. Bouchard worked the ball well enough in the eighth to keep in touch with the Czech in effort to play every point. As the set got closer to a conclusion, Bouchard was giving critical points away with her being trouble by or at the net which saw the ball go there on her returns.

It at one point let out a scream from the Canadian who in was trouble of going a set down. Despite her fight in the tenth, Bouchard couldn’t overcome the problems with dealing with shots back from Vondrousova who went on to control on deuce and take the set lead after 42 minutes. The 19 year old had an edge with the service game success that put her in a great position to conduct another round of tennis that would keep Bouchard back.

Breaking the Canadian was her first accomplishment to start the second set followed by consolidating it with a hold in the second. Bouchard got on the board in the third before fighting her way to deuce in order to get even with Vondrousova. The Czech gave herself an edge of being at the right place to deliver back the ball and earn the in that gave her a 3-1 lead. Bouchard was not out of it and proved herself with a hold in the fifth before earning a break that leveled her at three apiece with Vondrousova.

A double fault nearly killed her chance for a three game winning streak until a lot of effort from her part made it back to deuce. It came to handling the pressure that beat her down again giving the 19 year old the lead change. She never let go of it as Bouchard was running out of gas and ideas that allowed Vondrousova to position herself to play for it in the ninth. The 19 year old had three match points making the third one count on a lob rally that ended with the ball flying over the head of Bouchard before landing inside to end her run in 1 hour and 25 minutes.

While it looked like a good fight between the two stars, it was a matter of control which Vondrousova more than Bouchard. She won 60 percent from the first serve and proved her strengths near the net winning eight of ten. Bouchard had 32 errors which were the biggest problem sticking out that had her done in New York. While she prepares for the Asian tour of the season in the coming weeks. The teenager will eye a third round matchup Saturday against Kiki Bertens.

Azarenka keeps Gavrilova at bay in straight sets win at US Open

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Victoria Azarenka kept her winning ways going at the US Open Wednesday. The two time finalist of the tournament brought plenty of frustration to Daria Gavrilova who fell under pressure in a 6-1, 6-2 score on Court 17 at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.

This was a first meeting for the two regulars on the WTA tour and one that they both wished to put behind them. The Australian had never gotten beyond the second round and had a chance to do so if her game got into gear faster than the former world number one. Azarenka had a good start to her tournament warming up on the hard courts to defeat Kuzmova in straight sets. With the scenery changing to an outdoor court, the 29-year-old would hope to keep in line to inch closer to her previous best of making the quarterfinals three years ago.

She made a statement in the opening game forcing deuce with Gavrilova who wasn’t going to let it go easily. After two breaks, the Belorussian got it done and conducted a stronger service game where she answered back on the returns of the Australian. Azarenka made it 3-0 with another battle on deuce with Gavrilova where she nailed down the game-winner to remain in control.

A strong triple break ended the Belorussian’s grip of the set where Gavrilova blanked her with a couple of line drive winners. The 29-year-old responded with a break back in the fifth to keep three games out of the competition. The 24-year-old still had some fight left in her to battle Azarenka but couldn’t keep it going on deuce where the former world number one locked down the AD point in the sixth to play for a shot to go a set up.

Gavrilova hunted down a chance to keep the set moving by playing evenly against Azarenka’s hard groundstrokes. With a service hold the utmost important, the 24-year-old gave a little too much that gave Azarenka the win ending 37 minutes. The Belorussian had an overall service game that produced 14 of 19 from the first serve and 9 of 14 from the second. They helped her record seven winners while keeping the errors low. It took a toll on Gavrilova’s efforts that had her under 40 percent with a dozen errors to her name.

After taking a short break off the court, she hoped that it could help her regroup and counter Azarenka’s power. They remained on serve to begin the set and give the Australian some comfort despite the hot conditions on court. By the fifth game, Azarenka had an edge on the Australian that brought a lot of trouble to her game.

Gavrilova couldn’t keep it together with the heat being a factor losing on some key moments during service that sent her into a scream of frustration. She was all out of ideas on how to fight back against the 29-year-old who was well under control. She soon had a 5-2 lead where she ended the day in the eighth to capture the win after 1 hour and 21 minutes. The first serve was locked down well enough to produce positive results on her end while making it a troubling time for her opponent’s who had 26 unforced errors when it was over. She was outscored 61-39 against a player destined to make her mark again.

She would possibly face another big test this year facing either US Open champion Sloane Stephens or Anhelina Kalinina on Friday.