Ostapenko and Sakkari cruise to next round of Ostrava Open

Jelena Ostapenko and Maria Sakkari moved to the next round of Ostrava Open following victories over Martic and Svitolina.

Jelena Ostapenko returned to the courts today in a match against Petra Martic in Ostrava and she defeated her in only 59 minutes 6-3 6-1. It was a great display by Ostapneko who wasn't favoured to win this match but she turned it around. The start was shaky for her as Martic broke her in the first game and took a 2-0 lead. After that Ostapenko created a furious run that saw her win 5 games in a row. Martic could not match her intensity and the early struggles were a distant memory. Martic stopped the bleeding by winning a game but Ostapenko proceeded to seal the set 6-3.

The 2nd set was even more impressive as Ostapenko continued to play well while Martic could not find a way to match her intensity. Her serve faltered in the 2nd set as well and in the rallies, she had no chance so Ostapenko quickly ended the match with a 6-1 2nd set victory.

Elina Svitolin and Maria Sakkari clashed a little later in the day and it was an interesting match that early favoured the Greek. She broke Elina twice in the first three games where she took a 3-0 lead. She would give one back but she still retained the lead. She was very impressive on her own serve not allowing Elina a whiff of a break point winning over 90 % of 1st serve points. She attacked the Ukrainian on her 2nd serve winning most of those points which allowed her to break her once more to seal the first set 6-3.

The start of the 2nd set was a bit better for Elina who broke Sakkari finally after a hard-fought game but she also gave it back in the very next game. The next few games were uneventful until Svitolina squandered a big lead in a game and gave Sakkari a breakpoint. The Greek player took the chance immediately and proceeded to end the match 6-3.