Jelena Ostapenko survived a turbulent 6-1 3-6 8-6 encounter with Daria Kasatkina to book her place in the third round of Wimbledon 2021.
The Latvian, who claimed her fourth WTA title in Eastbourne last Saturday, hit 48 winners and made the same number of unforced errors during a typically unpredictable display.
Despite this inconsistency, Ostapenko looked in superb form at times and she eventually did enough to come through. She will now face either Alja Tomljanovic or Alize Cornet in the last 32.
Ostapenko Races Ahead
Ostapenko made an excellent start. She served and hit a few trademark winners as she surged into a 3-0 lead.
The Latvian was helped out by Kasatkina, who made a couple of poor errors in the second game to hand her opponent the chance to break.
Ostapenko sealed her second break in the sixth game with a superb forehand winner. Then she held serve comfortably to wrap up the first set in just 22 minutes.
Kasatkina Fights Back
The second set was a chaotic affair. Kasatkina out-fought Ostapenko in a long game to earn an early break. Then the Latvian dialled up the aggression and unleashed some ferocious winners to break back immediately.
Breaks were traded again in the fifth and sixth games to make it 3-3. After holding serve to edge ahead, the Russian profited from some sloppy errors from Ostapenko to seize another break. Then she won a tight game on serve to clinch the set.
Ostapenko Edges Anarchic Decider
In the third set, serving was made to look virtually impossible. The first six games went against the server to leave the score locked at 3-3.
Both players returned well during that time. However, because Ostapenko was dictating the play, the points typically ended with either a winner or an error from the Latvian.
Due to the chaotic nature of the set, it seemed pivotal when Ostapenko finally held in game seven. And it looked like that hold might be decisive when she gained a 15-30 advantage on Kasatkina’s serve in the next game.
However, the Latvian failed to capitalise. She made three consecutive errors to let the Russian off the hook.
The drama did not stop there. Ostapenko played two awful service games to gift Kasatkina two chances to serve for the match. Then, on both occasions, she fought with everything she had to deny the Russian.
Buoyed by these escapes, the Latvian held to love in game thirteen. Then she hit two excellent winners to move within two points of victory.
Kasatkina claimed the next three points, but Ostapenko drilled a forehand into the corner to crank up the pressure at deuce. Then she hammered a drive volley winner to earn her first match point.
The Latvian sealed the win when the Russian hit a forehand into the net. And it was obvious how much it meant – she clenched her fist and let out a loud roar of ‘Come on!’
