Jelena Ostapenko ends Karolina Pliskova’s campaign

Jelena Ostapenko started the action on Thursday at Roland Garros with one of the biggest surprises of the tournament. The Latvian defeated the second seed Karolina Pliskova in just 69 minutes in straight sets 6: 4, 6: 2.

This is the second time Ostapenko has reached the third round in the French capital. The last time he did this was in 2017 when he reached the finals before winning his first and only major title to date.

Ostapenko broke Pliskova’s serve at the start of the game. The Czech immediately broke the Latvian’s serve. The number 43 in the world broke her opponent’s serve again and led with her serve 3: 1.

The exchange of service breaks took a while as Pliskova stabilized the set again in the sixth game. A third break in her serve proved crucial, however, as Ostapenko lasted long enough to serve the set.

The second set followed the trajectory of the first, with the lower ranked player again having an early break over the world’s number 4. Only this time there were no setbacks for Pliskova, and Ostapenko, having implemented a second service break in the seventh game, played the game without any problems.

The former champion made her shots without hesitation, although Pliskova tried hard to get her rhythm going. The winners flew a lot away from Ostapenko’s bat, even if Pliskova’s mistake multiplied further to keep their game in tandem.

Ostapenko finished the match with 27 winners and 19 easy mistakes, while Pliskova only had nine winners and 25 easy mistakes. Ostapenko won 67 points on Pliskovas 46 throughout the game.

Ostapenko is expecting either American Sloane Stephens or Spaniard Paula Badosa next.

Roland Garros: Petra Kvitova survived the Jasmine Paolini test

Pliskova’s compatriot Petra Kvitova, the seventh seed, had a better day in her match against Italian qualifier Jasmine Paolini.

Kvitova reached the third round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Paolini in an hour and 24 minutes. She will play either Leylah Fernandez or Polona Hercog for a spot in the last 16. Danielle Collins reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Danish teenager and qualifying player Clara Tauson in 70 minutes.

She meets the winner of the Garbine Muguruza-Kristyna Pliskova game for a place in the round of 16. Aryna Sabalenka, seeded eighth, also took her place in the third round. The Belarusian defeated the Russian Daria Kasatkina 7: 6 (6), 6: 0 in one hour and 29 minutes.

Sabalenka will play either against Nao Hibino or against the 30th seed Ons Jabeur for a place in the round of 16. The fourth seed Sofia Kenin avoided suffering a similar fate as Karolina Pliskova when she survived a determined Ana Bogdan to reach Roland Garros’ fourth round in 2020.

The 2020 Australian Open champion recovered after losing the first set and held her own in the final moments of the third set to beat the Romanian 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 51 minutes achieve.

Kenin hit 34 winners and made 35 unforced mistakes and won a total of 86 points for the match. Photo credit: Roland Garros Twitter