Jelena Ostapenko saved one match point opportunity in an effort to win the second round of the Linz Open 2024 season.
The Latvian tennis player fought as hard as he could to beat the Danish tennis player, Clara Tauson, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in the second round of the Linz Open, Austria, which lasted 2 hours 21 minutes.
The tennis player who received a bye in the first round played her first match since losing in the final of the Australian Open in women’s doubles. He trailed 1-4 in the second set and the world number 125 created a match point chance at 5-3 in the third set only to see the top seed win the match.
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The 2017 French Open champion lost to Tauson in three sets when they met in the final of the 2021 Luxembourg Open, but he was able to avenge the defeat in a match that saw some extraordinary momentum shifts.
The first seed started the match slowly and trailed 1-5 before finally losing in the first set. But he was able to find better form and equalize in one set, including winning five games in a row.
Entering the deciding set, Tauson again raised his level of play and even created a match point opportunity. Facing match point, the Latvian tennis player found another strength in time before converting the third match point opportunity in the tiebreak round.
“I feel really proud that I really fought until the last point, even though I was behind,” said Ostapenko.
In the Linz Open quarter-finals, Ostapenko will face British tennis player Jodie Burrage.
Jelena Ostapenko is not the only player who avoided defeat. Defending champion and fifth seed, Anastasia Potapova saved two match point opportunities in the second set tiebreak before beating Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto 2-6, 7-6, 7-5 in the second round which lasted 2 hours 54 minutes.
For a place in the semifinals, Potapova will face the second seed and compatriot, Ekaterina Alexandrova.
In other action, the third seed, Donna Vekic, put on a strong performance when she crushed Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska with a landslide result of 6-1, 6-1 and will meet French tennis player, Clara Burel, who advanced to the quarter-finals of the first WTA 500 level tournament in her career thanks to victory 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 over Czech tennis player, Katerina Siniakova.
Meanwhile, the fourth seed, Elise Mertens, did not face many obstacles when she beat the Italian, Lucia Bronzetti, 6-1, 6-3.
Belgian tennis player Mertens will next be Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s opponent.
