Jelena Ostapenko fought past a valiant Venus Williams to move into the quarter-finals of the Rothesay Classic on Thursday. The second-seeded Latvian won 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 after almost two hours and 30 minutes of play.
The opening set went against Williams and she struggled to come up with an adequate answer for her younger rival’s shot-making. In that set, Ostapenko won all eight points played on return on Williams’ second serve. Williams’ injured right knee acting up again at the start of the second set also made it look like Ostapenko would wrap the match up in straight sets.
In the second set, Williams went down a break in the fifth game and Ostapenko kept up the pressure on the American right up to the ninth game. In that game, serving to stay in the match, the 43-year-old faced a match point. The former world no. 1 did save the match point and then claimed the set on Ostapenko’s serve in the 12th game. In the 11th game, Williams averted another crisis for herself as she held her serve after trailing 0-40.
The deciding set saw Williams go ahead with a break for the first time. That, however, was the end of her resurgence that had begun in the second set. Ostapenko stormed back into the match and secured the break back, before claiming two more breaks en route to victory.
Rothesay Classic: Magdalena Frech upsets Sorana Cirstea
Ostapenko will play Magdalena Frech in the quarter-finals. The Pole ousted eighth seed Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-4 in their round-of-16 meeting in two hours and 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Barbora Krejcikova came through against fellow countrywoman Tereza Martincova 6-4, 6-4. Krejcikova took an hour and 47 minutes to get the win. She will face a Czech for the second straight match in Linda Fruhvirtova.
Rebecca Marino defeated Emina Bektas 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1) in their second-round clash. The Canadian lucky loser will play Lin Zhu next.
Lastly, fourth seed Anastasia Potapova also made her way into the quarter-finals of the Rothesay Classic. Potapova came from a set down to beat American Cathy McNally 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(0) in two hours and 30 minutes.
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