PARIS (FRANCE) – Jelena Ostapenko, former French Open Champion, trounced second seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4 6-2 in the second round at Roland Garros on Thursday. This comes after the Czech player presented a performance riddled with mistakes.
Pliskova, 28, had to deal with unforced errors during her opener against Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif. However, she managed to sail through using her experience.
Ostapenko of Latvia, who clinched the 2017 title as an unseeded player, gave a solid performance throughout and did not allow her opponent, who looked sluggish, to gain a foothold in the match.
“I was just trying to play my game, but I knew I had to return well today because she obviously has, like, one of the best serves on tour, Ostapenko told media persons.
“I think I was returning very well today. Also, I had to hold my serve, which I did pretty good. Also to use some drop shots, because it’s a very good shot in these conditions.”
The Latvian was aggressive from the beginning of the game as her rival scrambled to gain control over the mistakes.
Known as one of the biggest servers, Pliskova made three unforced errors and a double fault in the opening game.
It remained the same for her for the rest of the afternoon.