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Alexandra Krunic had her eyes set on a chance to overturn the tide but was cut off at the US Open on Tuesday. Almost going down in the late stages of a second set tiebreak, Jelena Ostapenko made sure to lock her good start down and complete the straight-sets win 6-3, 7-6(7) on Court Six at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.
The two met for the second time since 2017 where the Serbian holds the lone victory against the Latvian. Both made the third round in consecutive years but with both struggling to string together wins, both needed the important start to the year’s final slam.
Ostapenko had two good wins back in Toronto but her move to Cincinnati didn’t produce more. The time to prepare in New York was important for her to try and level the series while eyeing a spot in round two. Krunic carried the advantage of defeating the 22-year-old on hard courts but getting another one would depend on her agility to get into control.
She got a grip on the set quickly after a contest in the first which Ostapenko won on a break of deuce. She broke Krunic in the following game, forcing deuce, before denying her a chance for the advantage point, winning four consecutive points.
The Serb broke back and consolidated the break to level after the fourth. It was a trade-off of service games with Ostapenko leading the way until another break for the Latvian in the eighth set her up for a finish on serve. She gave it to Krunic with a shutout in the ninth scoring her 14th winner to end the first in 38 minutes.
Knowing she had to make a challenge happen against Ostapenko, the Serbian came out with a serve to love to start the second set. Adding a break to her 2-0 lead put the Latvian on notice to break back in the following game. The 22-year-old consolidated a hold to level at two-all but quickly fell back in a hole.
Krunic set the bar with another two-game victory holding a break over the head of the Latvian. In response, she broke back and held to show her determination in going for a straight-set win.
Adding a third straight game victory gave her a chance with a break up on Krunic but holding in the ninth didn’t come to pass as the Serb broke her back gaining the edge on an offensive mistake from the Latvian.
Ostapenko gained one more try but it was answered with Krunic scoring another break to set up the pivotal tiebreak. After being down 1-3 during the tiebreak, the 26-year-old rallied to three-all and won the next two for the lead over Ostapenko.
The Latvian struck back to make it six-all before going for the 7-6 lead and her first match point. A short rally saw her put too much on a line drive that went long but got a second match point on a terrific crosscourt. She played her best return game possible getting centered on court to fire a crosscourt that painted the line enough to clinch her third match point after 1 hour and 33 minutes.
Despite the tough finish to her day where she committed 12 double faults and 36 unforced errors, the victory will give her the confidence while taking on the winner of either Alison Riske or Garbine Muguruza on Thursday.
