Jelena Ostapenko in fine form at French Open

Jelena Ostapenko (Facebook)

Three years ago Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia stunned the tennis world when she defeated Simona Halep of Romania, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the 2017 French Open. Despite being ranked 47th in the world, Ostapenko became the first unseeded woman to win the French Open since 1933. That year Margaret Scriven of Great Britain beat the third seed Simonne Mathieu of France, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

However over the last three years, Ostapenko has dealt with her fair share of adversity. First, with a left wrist injury, and then the death of her father while preparing for the 2020 Auckland Open.

Since winning the French Open, Ostapenko has also not been able to find her form at Roland Garros. She was beaten as the fifth seed in the first round of the 2018 French Open by Kateryna Kozlova of the Ukraine 7-5, 6-3, and then by Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4, 7-6 in the first round of the 2019 French Open.

Heading into the final grand slam of the year in 2020, no one was really talking about Ostapenko. But they should be now. In her first two matches, she has only lost nine games, as she has clobbered her opponents, and has been able to once again find her 2017 form. In the first round, she defeated Madison Brengle of the United States with ease, 6-2, 6-1. Then, she defeated Karolina Pliskova, the second seed from the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-2. Ostapenko’s third round opponent on Friday will now be Paula Badosa of Spain. Badosa is also coming into her match after delivering an upset as she knocked out former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens of the United States, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Ironically, Stephens also won her major title in 2017.

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