Nature Valley Classic: Ostapenko routs in first round win

Jelena Ostapenko had one of her best results that had been missing from her game for quite some time. The Latvian performed well in the first round of the Nature Valley Classic that allowed her to dominate Poland’s Iga Swiatek 6-0, 6-2 on Court One at the Edgbaston Priory Tennis Club Tuesday.

This was a first time meeting for the two but an important one for the Latvian who was on an uncontrollable slide. Through her last ten matches, Ostapenko lost seven during the clay court season which suddenly became her weakness. With the grass court season underway, the 22-year-old and her 7-2 record last year gave her confidence going in against a qualifier who made her first appearance at the tournament.

The nerves were in play for the Polish teen as she lost control on serve handing Ostapenko the early break. She launched a strong service game before she managed to earn the double break for a 3-0 lead. The Latvian secured another hold before securing the triple break that gave her a commanding 5-0 hold.

Swiatek called for her coach but his advice would not stop the onslaught she continued to face. Ostapenko’s service game saw her reach two set points to take the first in 20 short minutes. The 22 year old was flawless on offense winning nine from the first serve and had four aces. With the success doing enough damage to Swiatek, the Latvian had herself in a great spot to continue her ways.

The Polish teen had other ideas and implemented them going into the next set. After the two broke one another on serve, Swiatek strengthened her service game and stayed locked to deny Ostapenko anymore leverage early on.

It was a brief hope for the 18-year old as she found herself under pressure in the fifth with Ostapenko producing break points. She got it done on her second attempt before consolidating on serve in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead.

Jelena Ostapenko beats Iga Swiatek 6-0 6-2. #NatureValleyClassic pic.twitter.com/PfeubdxtE3

— Lee 🇪🇺🏳️‍🌈 (@yelnats_eel) June 18, 2019

The Latvian achieved the double break on Swiatek that handed her the chance to serve for the match in the eighth. Ostapenko was on the verge of a comfortable victory on court gaining two match points on the Polish teen.

The win came on a short pop up where she returned it with a big smash ending the first round in 51 minutes. While she had five double faults that normally would be too much to recover from, Ostapenko’s force of having seven aces and 21 winners did the job of devastating Swiatek from start to finish.

With such a positive result for the 22 year old she would try to build up on it in the second round meeting seventh seeded Johanna Konta on Wednesday.