WHAT HAPPENED: A lesson for the pro-American Court 5 crowd: never count out Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.
With fiery roars and frequent fists pumps, the No. 10 seed fought past Taylor Townsend, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the third round on Day 4.
The American lefty caused trouble early for Ostapenko. The 21-year-old started the match sluggishly with three unforced errors and a double fault to gift Townsend the opening break and, more importantly, confidence.
But then Ostapenko quickly exhibited why she possesses one of the toughest mental constitutions on tour, shaking off the early 0-2 hole and fist-pumping her way to two straight games. Soon after, in a game lasting over 10 minutes, Ostapenko must have felt a sense of déjà vu after fending off four break points only to once again yield with a double fault.
With her southpaw spin clearly impacting Ostapenko, Townsend kept rolling with two perfectly placed aces at 30-30, to take a 5-3 lead. The four-time junior Grand Slam champion held her nerve to take the first set 6-4, including going 5/5 on net points, while hitting three aces to zero double faults.
Ostapenko, who reached a career-high No. 5 ranking back in March, felt the heat again in the second set, saving two break points in her opening service game. As expected, the Latvian kept up the heavy hitting. The No. 10 seed’s trademark style of reckless abandon earned her 18 winners in the second. At 2-2, Ostapenko caught fire to run off three of the final four games, earning the set, 6-3. The Latvian had only 13 unforced errors, compared to 19 in the previous set.
In the final set, Ostapenko appeared to have finally found her comfort zone, grabbing a 3-1 lead. Yet the double fault monster made a return with Ostapenko launching three in the game, and losing serve. Although it precipitated a mini-push to 4-3 for the American, she ultimately fell to the better player as Ostapenko ripped off three games of her own to close out the match.
Ostapenko entered the US Open struggling to find her game on the North American hard courts, after suffering two three-set first-round losses in Montreal and Cincinnati. Her performance today, on top of a gutsy win over Andrea Petkovic on Tuesday, means the 21-year-old picks up her first back-to-back wins since her career-best semifinal run at Wimbledon.
WHAT IT MEANS: Ostapenko is firmly situated in the quarter of pain, where matchups start to get even more scintillating. Get ready: a Maria Sharapova clash is on the horizon. If the Russian’s 20-0 record in Arthur Ashe Stadium portends correctly, the 31-year-old seems all-but-destined for victory over Sorana Cirstea Thursday night, which would yield a meeting with Ostapenko.
Should the two do battle — a match sure to be full of firepower — the showdown would be a must-see for Day 6. The last time their paths crossed was a tightly contested quarterfinal this year on the red clay in Rome that saw a 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 upset in favor of Sharapova.
MATCH POINT: The mysterious math of Ostapenko continues. The Latvian launched 14 double faults during Thursday's match, a stat few could overcome. The stunning number reflects that fact that no mental mountain is too great for this plucky player to overcome.
