Latvian Jelena Ostapenko continued her amazing run at the Qatar Total Open, as after eliminating two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round, the 18-year-old upset two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova to move into the quarterfinals of the WTA Premier 5 event.
The 88th-ranked Ostapenko was the first to take the lead in the third-round match by breaking Kvitova’s serve in the opening game and holding on to it for a 3-1 lead. From the sixth game we had three straight breaks and the players were leveled at 4-all. Kvitova then finally held her serves and in the twelfth game Ostapenko sent a forehand just a bit long, allowing Kvitova to convert her third set point.
Ostapenko pretty much raced through the second set, converting both her break points and not giving any break point opportunities to Kvitova, while in the decider she did drop serve once, but the world No.8 Kvitova dropped it as much as four times and the Latvian, who used to be a professional ballroom dancer for seven years, celebrated the big victory with the score 5-7 6-2 6-1.
Ostapenko and Kvitova were tied in unforced errors, 33, while Ostapenko hit 28 winners to Kvitova’s 16.
Next up for Ostapenko is Zheng Saisai, who is also enjoying a spectacular week in Doha, as after stunning top seed Angelique Kerber in the second round, the Chinese beat Eugenie Bouchard in the third. (photos: Ralf Reinecke, Jimmie48)
