Australia’s world no. 33 took on world no. 12 Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia in the opening round in Wuhan. This was their first head-to-head meeting.
Gavrilova faced three break points in the opening game against Jelena Ostapenko as the Latvian opened on fire, but then in Ostapenko style, she let Gavrilova back into the game with unforced errors. A forehand winner by Ostapenko from deep in the court brought up break point no. 4. Gavrilova saved it when Ostapenko was on top but hit wide and gave the Australian a chance to hit a winner down the line. Gavrilova closed out the game to lead 1-0.
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Photo: Gavrilova celebrates her win in the first round (Photo by Wang HE/Getty Images)
After fighting back from 0-40 in the first game, Gavrilova put the pressure on Ostapenko, as she went to 15-40. Ostapenko was able to save two break points before Gavrilova stepped in to attack the second serve from her opponent to earn a third break point. Ostapenko then hit well long on the next point to give the Australian the early lead at 2-0. Gavrilova consolidated the break to move out to a 3-0 lead.
Games went with serve and Ostapenko was serving at 1-4 when she hit a shot that clipped the net and went wide, that gave Gavrilova a breakpoint, but Ostapenko fought back to hold serve to see Gavrilova serving at 4-2 with the one break advantage.
After a bit of a struggle, Gavrilova was able to hold serve for a 5-2 lead.
Gavrilova earned two break points in the next game as Ostapenko’s unforced error count mounted. A double fault handed Gavrilova the first set 6-2.
A deep Ostapenko return saw Gavrilova miss the next shot to bring up a breakpoint in the first game of the second set, an ace saved the breakpoint, however, Gavrilova then hit into the net to present the second breakpoint in the game, this time Ostapenko converted after Gavrilova double-faulted. This has been a concern for Gavrilova over recent months.
In the very next game, Ostapenko offered a breakpoint when she double-faulted at 40-40. A big backhand out wide saved the breakpoint. A winner from Gavrilova brought up another break point, but then Gavrilova missed the next shot to keep Ostapenko in the game. The Latvian then served out the game for a 2-0 lead.
Ostapenko was now finding her range hitting very close to the lines for several winners and along with a double-fault and a shot into the net from Gavrilova, Ostapenko broke to love for a 3-0 lead.
Gavrilova fought her way back with a break, then another break followed at 4-3 to level the second set. Gavrilova then rolled on to complete the match win without Ostapenko winning another game. The final score was 6-2, 6-4, a bit surprising considering Ostapenko was striking the ball so well at the start of the match. The error count ended 33 Ostapenko to Gavrilova’s 19.
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Photo: A frustrating day for Jelena Ostapenko (Photo by Wang HE/Getty Images)
Gavrilova next faces world no. 25 from the Czech Republic Barbora Strycova who defeated France’s Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-2. Strycova leads the head-to-head with two hardcourt wins over Gavrilova in 2017.
Barty gets past Konta
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Photo: Barty advanced past Konta for the second straight year in Wuhan. (Photo NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)
Last year in Wuhan Johanna Konta faced Ash Barty as the world no. 7, they faced off in the second round with Barty winning that match and then going all the way to the final, losing against Caroline Garcia. This year Konta has fallen to no. 43. with Barty currently at 17 after rising from 37 at the tournament last year.
Early in the match it was Barty that got the break, Konta came back to take the lead with two breaks of her own before Barty surged back to break Konta twice and take the set 7-5. In the second set, Konta was again able to break Barty, but Barty again hit back and was serving for the match at 5-4. She had a match point but failed to convert, then was broken to let Konta back in the match. Barty broke back again as she closed out the match on her third match point for a 7-5, 6-4 victory.
