Jelena Ostapenko showed some great mental toughness as she prevailed in straight sets against Camila Giorgi in the third round of the Wimbledon Championships after trailing by huge deficits in both sets but still managed to triumph without losing a set. Moving onto the fourth round, Ostapenko now faces Elina Svitolina in her first second-week appearance at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Ostapenko comes from 3-5 down and rattles off four straight game
Giorgi came into the match firing as she played some perfect aggressive tennis to take the first game of the match easily, blasting three winners in two minutes to have the perfect start. Nevertheless, Ostapenko plays a similar game as compared to Giorgi and is also capable of rattling off winners, showing that she could do better in the next game as she put in some powerful groundstrokes and forced errors out of the Italian. The 2017 Roland Garros champion then made the first breakthrough in the match as Giorgi fell onto the ground on a crucial point at 15-30, allowing Ostapenko to earn her first break points. Unable to come up with her first serves, Giorgi’s risky second serves were exploited by the Latvian’s merciless returns, allowing her higher-ranked opponent to take the early lead.
Despite some tough resistance from Giorgi, Ostapenko still managed to consolidate the break as she closed out the game with an ace, affirming her lead. From then on, the momentum shifted to the Italian all of a sudden as Giorgi had a love service hold before breaking straight back to level the scores with the help of some inconsistent serving from her opponent. Serving two consecutive aces, Giorgi took the lead on the scoreboard for the first time since the first game as she looked comfortable on the grass with the momentum running in her. Ostapenko seemed to have lost a little focus as she was broken for the second straight time and conceded her fourth consecutive game, allowing Giorgi to be just one game away from taking the first set from being down 1-3.
Facing some nerves while serving out the set, Giorgi led 30-0 before two costly double faults allowed Ostapenko to break straight back and return on serve. The Italian had another lead in the game as the Latvian found herself in deep trouble at 15-30 down in her service game while serving to stay in the set, but managed to regain the rhythm on her serve to narrowly get the hold. The momentum was now with Ostapenko as she won her third straight game by breaking Giorgi for the third time in the set, gifting herself the golden opportunity to serve out the set. Serving with great precision, Ostapenko finally managed to close out the first set 7-5 after 41 minutes of play.
Ostapenko comes from 2-5 down and wins five consecutive games to seal the win
Giorgi did not faze even when Ostapenko earned a break point in the opening game as the Italian played some impressive tennis to fend off the break point and eventually managed to eke out the narrow hold of service. Both players looked shaky on their serves in the early stages of the second set as they faced some challenges but still managed to exchange service holds in the first couple of games. The first breakthrough of the second set finally came in the sixth game as Giorgi broke serve with the help of another two double faults from her opponent, taking the crucial lead and looked to have the set under her control.
The match seemed to be heading towards a deciding set when the Italian consolidated the break with an ace on game point, opening up a formidable 5-2 lead. However, it was from there when the momentum shifted hands to Ostapenko, with Giorgi unable to convert leads once again. Ostapenko rattled off 12 of the next 15 points to return level at 5-5 all of a sudden, with a straight sets victory looking possible. Giorgi’s woes continued as she was unable to find her rhythm after losing the lead at 5-2, allowing Ostapenko to serve for the match at 6-5 after breaking serve for the second straight time. Not to disappoint her fans, Ostapenko put in a solid service game to serve out the match successfully after 80 minutes of play.
