Titled in Stuttgart on Monday, Ostapenko comes down from her cloud in Madrid
The days follow one another but are not the same for Jelena Ostapenko.
The Latvian, known for her ability to sweep everything in her path when she is having a good day, delivered a high-level tennis performance at the Stuttgart tournament, which she won on Monday by consecutively defeating Iga Swiatek, world No. 2, and Aryna Sabalenka, world No. 1.
Competing in Madrid this Thursday, Ostapenko came down to earth against her compatriot Anastasija Sevastova. The latter, returning to the circuit after a year of absence, used her protected ranking to enter the main draw.
She had defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (6-4, 7-5) in the first round and once again excelled today against the world No. 18, winning 7-6, 6-2 in an hour and a half of play.
Ostapenko displayed a level of play far from what she had shown in Stuttgart, winning only three service games throughout the match and losing the last six games of the encounter, from 2-0 to 2-6 in the second set.
Sevastova, who reached the semifinals of the US Open in 2018, will face Diana Shnaider for a place in the round of 16.
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