Jelena
Ostapenko defeated
Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the third round of the
WTA 1000 Guadalajara Open.
The World
No. 16 had a strong start in Mexico, where she began as the 6th seed and
directly advanced to the second round. Ostapenko had a good run at the US Open,
reaching the quarter-finals but eventually falling to the eventual champion
Coco Gauff.
Last week,
she only made it to the second round in San Diego, losing to Danielle Collins. On
the other hand, the 21-year-old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk had a successful
first-round victory against Stacey Fung, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-0.
In the
first set, it was the Ukrainian who took an early lead, securing a break in her
favor. However, Ostapenko didn't let herself get distracted and had a strong
streak of points to win five consecutive games, taking the set 6-2.
In the
second set, Ostapenko improved her serve and didn't face any break points.
Kostyuk also displayed strength in her service game but gave an opportunity to
the former French Open champion, who capitalized on it in the sixth game to
establish an insurmountable lead.
Kostyuk had
a solid 62% first serve percentage, winning 68% of those points. However,
Ostapenko was incredibly aggressive when her opponent played with the second
serve, and Kostyuk only won 21% of points on her second serve.
On
Ostapenko's side, although she had a 54% first serve accuracy, she won 88% of
those points and 55% with the second serve. She also only conceded one break
point during the match.
25-year-old
tennis player was nearly relentless with her break point opportunities,
converting 4 out of the 5 times Kostyuk faced a break point.
In the
third round, she will face former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin (53rd),
who seems to have overcome her injuries and is steadily climbing the rankings,
showing improved form with each passing week.
Last week,
Kenin was a finalist at the WTA 500 San Diego Open, where she was defeated by
Barbora Krejcikova, and this week, she has already secured wins over Carol Zhao
(242nd) and Anhelina Kalinina (28th), both in straight sets.
