Ostapenko puts French Open disappointment behind her

Published by TenniSmash

Jelena Ostapenko looks on before playing at the Nature Valley International; Getty Images
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko gets her grass-court campaign off to a winning start following her early exit at Roland Garros.

Jelena Ostapenko has put a “really bad” French Open title defence behind her as she looks to use her aggressive game to good effect on grass.

The Latvian beat Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 6-3 7-5 in her opening match in Eastbourne on Tuesday.

It was Ostapenko’s first appearance since losing in the first round at Roland Garros as defending champion.

And the 21-year-old revealed that she had put her energy into being a tourist following her early exit in Paris.

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“I took a couple of days off and I stayed in Paris,” she said. “I went to see the Louvre, Versailles, and just to be like a tourist a little bit, try to do something else, not practising and playing.

“Then I went back home. Of course I spent some good time with my friends and then celebrated my birthday, which was very, very nice. I think I’m going to remember it, like, very special because was 21. And then I started to practice.”

Ostapenko had never played open grass before she arrived in the UK as a junior, and she admitted that for the “first couple of years I didn’t really like it”.

However, an impressive run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year, including a fourth round win over No.4 seed Elina Svitolina, suggested the Latvian’s ultra-aggressive style is well suited to the surface.

“On grass, I think the more aggressive you play, the better it is for you,” said Ostapenko, who also won the Wimbledon junior title in 2014.

“For the opponent it’s very hard to play defensive on grass because the bounce is very unpredictable. And also, it goes pretty quick.

“I think who is first aggressive during the rally is going to win the point.”

The early loss in Paris saw Ostapenko slip to 12th in the rankings but she had impressed by establishing herself as a top-10 player off the back of that shock 2017 French Open title.

Glenn Schaap will be the coach trying to guide her back up the rankings after Ostapenko chose to split for David Taylor following Roland Garros.

“With David, we just decided that we are probably going to stop because it didn’t work that well for me and for him,” she said.

“We worked almost half year together and it was I think a good half year. I cannot say anything bad. He’s a great person. We just decided to not continue working.”

Ostapenko will face Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu in the third round in Eastbourne on Wednesday,

 

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