Jelena Ostapenko: Rushing to the premiere triumph in Linz

Ekaterina Alexandrowa has to wait for her first tennis title at the Upper Austria Ladies in LInz. The Russian world number 21, who has lived in Prague since she was 13, also lost her second final in Upper Austria. In the end there was a lack of strength reserves; the semi-final against Donna Vekic (Cro), which lasted more than three hours, had cost too much energy. Something like that is a delight for Jelena Ostapenko, who appears so mercilessly on the court.

The Latvian, who won the French Open in 2017, put her announcement to “settle an outstanding score” into action. The number one in the tournament crowned her appearance at the premiere in the 500 format with her first title; in 2019 she was defeated by shooting star Coco Gauff (USA) in the final. This time Ostapenko made short work of it; after just 71 minutes the 6:2, 6:3 victory over Alexandrowa was a thing of the past.

“When I’m on the pitch, I give it my all”

“I really enjoyed playing here. The people are very friendly to me, it was a great setting,” said the 26-year-old triumphant, who, in addition to 500 points, also took home a proud prize money of 142,000 US dollars. That wasn’t necessarily to be expected on Thursday. Because Ostapenko was suffering from jet lag after the long trip to Australia, in her opening game she had to fend off a match point against the Danish qualifier Clara Tauson, only to retain the upper hand shortly after midnight (12:10 a.m.).

“I fought my way into the tournament. When I’m on the pitch, I give it my all,” said Ostapenko, who was applauded by 2,500 fans in the full house.

Even before the first rally, the atmosphere was great. The Upper Austrian singer-song-writer Ina Regen got the audience in the mood with her hits “Wie a Kind” and “A Weg zu mir”, the former world number one Ana Ivanovic was honored on the Center Court. After all, she had won twice in Linz. With Ostapenko, the first time shouldn’t have been the last.