After winning a fierce struggle at the start of the decider, Ostapenko regained the initiative and converted her fifth break point to take the lead 2-1.
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At the Abu Dhabi Open, the No. 5 seed Jelena Ostapenko prevailed over Danielle Collins 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 in a nail-biting first round. Ostapenko, who won her fifth and most recent title in Dubai in February of last year, has now won six consecutive matches on Emirati soil. It was her second victory over Collins in as many professional encounters; the Latvian won 7-6(1), 6-3 in the Miami semifinals of last year. Ostapenko, who is ranked No. 12 and recently advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, will play either Zheng Qinwen or qualifier Rebecca Marino in the second round.
Unpredictable momentum swings characterised the confrontation between two of the tour’s top first-strike power practitioners. Ostapenko was broken by No. 42-ranked Collins with a faultless return winner to take the opening set 4-3. But when serving for the set, the American double faulted down break point, and Ostapenko stole the show with a four-game run.
Collins, a former Australian Open semifinalist, responded admirably in the second set. Three straight return winners helped him build a double-break lead and set the stage for a one-sided stretch of play. After winning a fierce struggle at the start of the decider, Ostapenko regained the initiative and converted her fifth break point to take the lead 2-1. Collins was able to tie the score at 4-4 thanks to three double faults from the former Roland Garros champion in one game, but Ostapenko was more decisive and aggressive in the final stretch. She rallied to score 12 of the final 15 points after falling behind 5-4 to win.
“Danielle is a great player, and it’s always a tough match against her because she plays really well and she’s such a fighter. The match is never over until we shake hands. I’m really glad that, even though in some games I didn’t play my best, I was fighting and I managed to win the match. These kinds of matches give confidence,” Ostapenko said after the match.
Ostapenko had 30 winners, including six aces, compared to Collins’ 33 winners, 44 unforced errors to each player’s 44, and fewer double faults in Collins’ favour (seven to nine). The effectiveness of the second serve was, however, one significant difference between the pairs’ numbers. Collins won 37% of her second serve points overall compared to Ostapenko’s 49%, taking just five of 19 points behind it in the first set and seven of 17 in the third.
In fact, Ostapenko had respectable second serve winning percentages of 67% and 53% in the first and third sets, respectively. She only managed to get five points on serve overall in the middle set, and it wasn’t so much her second serve that let her down as both of her deliveries.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the Latvian’s impressive win over the American tennis veteran
