Ostapenko puffs to beat Cirstea

The Latvian starts strong. Jelena Ostapenko enters the second round of the tournament in Rome after defeating Cirstea 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

tournament draw

tournament results

The first round of WTA 1000 from Rome it faced two players separated by 14 places in the world ranking. Jelena Ostapenko He arrived after losing in the second round in Madrid for a very convincing result and was looking to make up for it. Sorana Cirstea He came after falling in the same instance, but later winning the Challenger in Reus, so he came with good feelings. The face to face between the two favored Jelena, who won the only two matches between them in 2017.

Ostapenko takes the first chapter

The match began with Ostapenko saving a breaking ball to break Cirstea’s next serve with a forehand cross from the drive. The reaction was swift and the Romanian returned the break at once with a parallel backhand from the Latvian that went long. The party calmed down a bit, but after two games Jelena struck again to make it 5-2 on the scoreboard and get close to closing the set. Finally, Ostapenko took the set with a 6-3 after an open serve that his rival could not return and sent to the doubles corridor.

Cirstea turns the game around

The second set had nothing to do with the first, with Cirstea being much more effective and imposing her match rhythm. The Romanian got a break in the Latvian’s first service turn and, after saving a breaking ball, stretched the score to 4-1. Jelena was not taking advantage of her opportunities and the Romanian made her pay dearly. When everything seemed lost for Ostapenko at 5-1, she managed to discount one of the two breaks to make it 5-3, but Cirstea didn’t miss any more and with a long forehand from Jelena she took the set.

Jelena closes the match

The third set began in the best possible way for the interests of the Latvian player, who was made with a break at the first change. Ostapenko extended her advantage to 3-0, at which point the partial calmed down. With the 4-1, Jelena hit the tie again and with a parallel forehand from her rival to the net made it 5-1, moment in which he gave up his service. However, he broke again to close the match with a 6-2 finish after a great down-the-line forehand return from the drive.