Latvia's top player Alona Ostapenko reached the round of 16 at the prestigious WTA 1000 tournament in Rome, defeating Chinese Zheng Qinwen in three sets. For the Latvian tennis player, this is one of the most significant victories of the clay season.
Latvian tennis player Alona Ostapenko continues her successful performance at the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome.
In the third round match, Ostapenko, ranked 36th in the world, defeated Chinese player Zheng Qinwen, who is in 32nd place in the WTA rankings, with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The match was challenging and saw several shifts in momentum. In the first set, Ostapenko led 3-1, but then lost her advantage, dropping several games in a row. Zheng capitalized on the Latvian's mistakes and closed the set in her favor.
In the second set, Ostapenko managed to turn the game around. At the end, she won three consecutive games and leveled the match.
In the decisive set, the Latvian tennis player quickly seized the initiative after a shaky start and managed to maintain her lead until the end of the match.
The victory earned Ostapenko 120 ranking points and a spot among the top 16 in the tournament.
For the Latvian tennis player, this is an important result on clay courts, especially after a somewhat unstable start to the season and an early exit at the tournament in Madrid last week.
In the next round, Ostapenko will face either Swiss player Belinda Bencic, ranked 12th in the world, or Russian Anna Kalinskaya.
During the tournament in Rome, the Latvian has already confidently defeated Italian Lucrezia Stefanini and Romanian Elena Ruse.
It is important to understand that the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome is considered one of the key stages of preparation for the French Open, so a successful performance here is often seen as an indicator of form ahead of the main clay tournament of the season.
Currently, Ostapenko has 13 wins in 24 matches this season.
The tournament in Rome will conclude at the end of next week.
