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Jelena Ostapenko froze and couldn’t get warmed up at the Korea Open Friday. The defending champion had her match delayed and didn’t come out strong which left Ekaterina Alexandrova plenty of room to dominate the Latvian in a 6-3, 6-2 upset on centre court at the Olympic Park Tennis Stadium.
The two met way back during their ITF days where they split wins on different surfaces. With their first WTA meeting occurring on the hard courts, the leverage weighed heavily with the Latvian carrying much more experience. She handed her Spanish opponent another loss that ended in straight sets getting Ostapenko on track. With Alexandrova less ready for the aggression brought on the court, the Latvian could find herself on the path to dictation.
She didn’t get the start she wanted falling behind on the score that almost got away from her. Down 15-30, Ostapenko held the opening game but knew that she was in some trouble with the second serve. It proved a key to moving along comfortably for the Russian who held followed by earning a break in the third with help on the Latvian’s first double fault. It was soon a 3-1 lead for Alexandrova who had a sizable lead that was unexpected. Ostapenko knew that she couldn’t let it get any bigger and closed within one to hold the fifth.
Things were back to square as the 23-year-old opened the door for Ostapenko with her first double fault in the following game. The world number 10 gained a 40-0 run but double faulted a third time that soon had Alexandrova on deuce. The two played tug of war for the AD point but on a second attempt, the Russian captured it on a well-placed winner out of reach to get back the lead.
She made good to hold serve in the eighth putting the defending champion in trouble of going a set down. She double-faulted a fourth time and a fifth thereafter to begin the ninth. She was not having any luck on the serve that soon led to Alexandrova reaching three set points which she earned with a cross-court winner landing in the lower corner of the court that ended 39 minutes. Ostapenko might have been fortunate to get the set over and done with as she finished with 24 percent on the first serve and five of eight won for points. It was the second serve that she had to rely on that ultimately let her down scoring just 10 of 25 from it.
The hope of recovering in the second set didn’t start her way as Alexandrova smashed the ball on serve landing a winner prior to her holding it. Ostapenko answered with an important hold to stay in touch with Alexandrova in the set. She still had a lot of work to do in order to counter the Russian who was still playing comfortably. She gained her first break of the set as the top seed committed her first double fault and sixth of the match.
The Latvian was going downhill as she couldn’t answer for anything that her opponent was bringing to the table. It was soon a 4-1 hold for Alexandrova who moved closer to an upset with Ostapenko serving to extend her day on court. She controlled the groundstrokes in the sixth that earned her the win sitting two games back.
Alexandrova soon found her serve in trouble but got some free points back due to her opponent’s unforced errors. It left the Russian with a shot to end the match pressuring Ostapenko on serve in the eighth. She made it easy for Alexandrova who smashed back the winners including the final one that clinched her a massive victory that took 1 hour and 11 minutes to do.
With a milestone made possible, the 23 year old would go for more as she had to quickly prepare for part two of her getting to the semifinal taking on Su-Wei Hsieh after suitable rest.
