Jelena Ostapenko and Petra Kvitova won this week’s grass-court tournaments in the lead-up to Wimbledon 2023 — the Latvian triumphed at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham, while the Czech captured her sixth title on the surface at the Bett1open in Berlin.
In a meeting between two Roland Garros champions and Top 20 players, second seed Jelena Ostapenko defeated top seed Barbora Krejcikova 7-6(8) 6-4 in the Rothesay Classic final to win her sixth career title and second on grass.
Although Krejcikova mounted a late comeback in the second set, narrowing the score from 1-5 to 4-5, Ostapenko managed to secure the match in straight sets by successfully serving out on her second attempt. It was her first straight-set victory this week, after three-set wins over Linda Noskova, Venus Williams, Magdalena Frech and Anastasia Potapova.
Petra Kvitova beat Donna Vekic 6-2 7-6(6) in the final of the Bett1open to win her 31st career title. Side note: Don’t confuse the tournament’s name with betting, Bett1 is a German mattress company.
The seventh-seeded Kvitova, wearing the Nike Summer Slam Dress, has not lost a set all week at the WTA 500 event in Berlin. Besides Vekic, the Czech eliminated other high-profile players such as Karolina Pliskova, Nadia Podoroska, Caroline Garcia, and Ekaterina Alexandrova. Having triumphed in Eastbourne last season, the 33-year-old has continued her remarkable form on grass, winning 12 out of her last 13 matches on this surface.
With her 71st match win on grass, Kvitova stands third among active players, behind Venus Williams (98) and Angelique Kerber (84). Moreover, only Venus Williams has won more titles (49) among active players on the Hologic WTA Tour.
