Alona Ostapenko Photo: Rob Prange / AFP7 via ZUMA Press Wire
The first racket of Latvian women’s tennis Alona Ostapenko conceded to Estonian tennis player Anete Kontaveita in the semifinals of the WTA 500 series tournament in St. Petersburg on Saturday with 3-6, 4-6. Ostapenko is ranked 25th in the WTA rankings and was ranked seventh in the tournament, while her opponent is ranked ninth in the WTA rankings and is ranked second in the tournament.
At the beginning of the first set, Ostapenko played successfully and in the second game he was able to “break” the opponent’s serve, as well as win both games of his service and take the lead with 3-0. However, the game continued and six games were lost in a row, after which they had to lose the first set with 3-6. The second set was also started more convincingly by the Estonian, who reached 2-0 and 3-1 in his favor, but Ostapenko was able to play. The Latvian tennis player managed to reach 3-3 and 4-4, but failed to save the match – in the tenth game of the second set, Kontaveita won at Ostapenko’s service and celebrated the victory in two sets – 6-3, 6-4. Ostapenko earned 185 WTA points for entering the semifinals of the WTA 500 tournament in St. Petersburg.
The two tennis players had previously met each other three times, winning Ostapenko only once. In 2015, in the second round of the British city Ilklija ITF W-50 series tournament, Kontaveita was superior with 6-1, 6-2, as well as in the finals of the 2018 Australian Open 1/16 (6-3, 1-6, 6-3 ). In the last meeting in another tournament in Great Britain – in the final of the 2021 Eastburn competition – Ostapenko won with 6-3, 6-3, winning the title. In the first round in St. Petersburg Latvia’s first racket was won by Chinese tennis players Xinyi Wang (WTA 86) with 6-1, 6-4, in the second with 6-1, 6-2 – German tennis players Andre Petkovich (WTA 65), but in the quarterfinals with 7- 6 (7: 5), 4-6, 6-3 – Belarusian tennis players Alexander Sasnovich (WTA 71).
In the first round, the Swiss tennis player Gilles Tehmann (WTA 35th) won the first round with 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, the Romanian Soran Kirsty (WTA 31st) with 6-4, 7-5 and 7-6 on Friday. (9: 7), 6-2 defeated another Swiss tennis player, Belind Benchicch (24th WTA), who finished fifth in the tournament. Ostapenko kicked off the season at the WTA 500 in Sydney, where he recognized the superiority of Paul Bados, a Spaniard, in the top ten in the world. She then made it to the third round of the Australian Open, where she gave way to fourth place in the world rankings for Czech Barbora Krejčikova.
The Estonian tennis player has also played two tournaments this season. She made it to the semi-finals of the WTA 500 in Sydney, where she lost to Kreichykov in three sets. Australia’s open championship, in the hope of Estonia, ended in the second round after a 2-6, 4-6 loss to Dara Klara Tausone. Ostapenko is playing for the seventh time in his career in the St. Petersburg tournament, reaching the third round in 2018. The contest player is playing for the first time in St. Petersburg. Ostapenko has won four WTA tournament titles in her career, while her opponent has one more victory.
It has already been reported that the second racket of the tournament on Monday – in the duo of Ostapenko with the Ukrainian Ludmila Kichenok – lost to the Romanian duo Soran Kirstia / Raluka Olar with 6-2, 4-6, 2:10. Ostapenko earned one world doubles ranking for his participation in the tournament. The hardcover tournament in St. Petersburg will run until February 13
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