After a friendly hug with the Czech, ranked 12th in the world, Jelena Ostapenko, 17th in the WTA rankings, can celebrate her first title of the 2023 season. At 26, it’s also the 6th of her career. And getting to this new title was no simple matter. The Czech took her through a battle lasting an hour and 53 minutes. At the end of the suspense in the first set, Ostapenko won the deciding game (10-8). In the second act, the Latvian unrolled and managed a double-break. However, she still gave herself a scare and saw Krejcikova come back into the match, before ensuring that the fire could be stopped.
With Wimbledon just a week away, Ostapenko is hoping to win a second Grand Slam title after her success at Roland Garros in 2017. She could hardly dream of better preparation, and is therefore brimming with confidence. For a player as powerful and capable of finishing points quickly as she is, grass is certainly the surface on which the former world number 5 has many trump cards to play. She’ll be one of the players to watch at Wimbledon.
Her run in Birmingham:
Linda Noskova (6-2, 5-7, 6-1)
Venus Williams (6-3, 5-7, 6-3)
Magdalena Frech (4-6, 7-5, 6-2)
Anastasia Potapova (5-7, 6-2, 6-4)
Barbora Krejcikova (7-6, 6-4)
