Three years after being champion at Roland Garros and after failing to pass the first round in the last two editions, Jelena Ostapenko The head of the tournament's number two series, Karolina Pliskova, surprised this Thursday, and will be in the third round of the French Grand Slam. The Latvian beat the Czech very easily (6-4 and 6-2 in 69 minutes) and He will face Paula Badosa on Saturday.
The fact is, Ostapenko is not bad at the top-10 in majors. After her win against Pliskova she has a 9-3 record. He continues to play open-ended, but with a bit more control than in the beginning. At 23 years old and from the 43rd place in the ranking, he manages good numbers (27 winners and 19 unforced errors), goes up little to the net but almost does not fail there and handles well at service (73% of points won with firsts. Fully covered with a mesh and a thermal shirt, both in black, he ate one of the maximum favorites to the triumph that did not just curdle in the Slams. He was a semifinalist in Paris in 2017, but in the rest of his other eight appearances he has not made it past the third round. The two had met five times, now the balance is even (3-3).
Another seeded Petra Kvitova (7th) did not fail and resolved her commitment to the Italian Jasmine Paolini with a clear victory by a double 6-3 in 1h: 24. It was Kvitova's 25th victory at Roland Garros, where she reached the third round for the ninth time (her top is the 2012 semi-finals). Petra played more aggressively than her rival, who had eliminated Spain's Aliona Bolsava in the first round, and will face the Canadian Fernandez. Sofia Kenin (4th) had a worse time to beat Romanian Ana Bogdan (3-6, 6-3 and 6-2). The American, who already went to the second round after a three-set match, had to work hard to win, after losing his serve four times during the match. Now she will have the opportunity to continue advancing in search of her best result on clay (quarter-finalist at Roland Garros 2019) if she beats the Romanian Bar. Aryna Sabalenka (8th) will also be in the third round. The Belarusian got rid of the Russian Kasatkina (7-6 (6) and 6-0 in 1h: 29) with some comfort with 34 winners and will be seen in the next phase with the Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who beat the Japanese Hibino by 7-6 (4) and 6-4. Petra Martic (13th) managed to defeat Kudermetova with difficulties (6-7 (1), 7-5 and 6-3), despite the Russian hitting her 52 winners. He will run into the German Siegemund. Fiona Ferro gave the French fans a joy with her victory in the center against the Kazakh Rybakina (14th) by 6-3, 4-6 and 6-2) and will collide with the Romanian Tig.
Results and schedule.