Jelena Ostapneko turns back the clock at Roland Garros to smash Pliskova while Kvitova defeats Paolini

Jelena Ostapneko turned back the clock to remind everyone of her best days at Roland Garros by smashing Karolina Pliskova in straight sets as Kvitova did the same to Paolini.

Jelena Ostapenko entered this Roland Garros wanting to string together some strong performances and today she did just that. Pliskova squeezed through in round 1 but her play looked far from good in that match and she was very defensive of it in the post-match interview. The injury she sustained in Rome most likely played a part in that match as well as today. From the start, she looked off both rhythm wise and movement-wise.

The first few games were full of breakpoints as both players were slow to get into rhythm. While Ostapenko found hers, Pliskova never did. Midway through the set, Ostapenko broke her once more to take a 5-3 lead which became a 6-4 1st set victory. The 2nd set was even worse by Pliskova who never found her rhythm serving. She was abysmal on her 2nd serve through the match, winning only 9 points of 30. Ostapenko won it with 6-2 to end the match quickly and move on to the next round.

Petra Kvitova played against Jasmine Paolini and she looked very good for the majority of the match. The performance was not perfect and she had some issues especially in the 2nd serve where she struggled to hold her own serve. The first one was very good as she took a commanding lead 5-1 which became a 6-3 set victory. In the 2nd one, she would break Paolini but immediately give her serve back.

Her 2nd serve wasn't very good today and it allowed Paolini to attack if often result in many lost points. Kvitova will need to better that heading into the next rounds but for now she will glad she is through. All in all, it was a solid display from the Czech who moves with a 6-3 6-3 victory in 85 minutes.