For many tennis fans, Latvian star Jelena Ostapenko is a familiar name. She burst onto the scene by winning the French Open in 2017, becoming the first unseeded player in the Open Era to claim the title at Roland Garros. She also made history as the first Grand Slam champion from Latvia.
Despite her impressive resume—including six career wins over Iga Swiatek, who later won three consecutive French Open titles—Ostapenko has had her share of tough opponents. However, at the recent Italian Open in Rome, she managed to turn the tables. Here’s how it unfolded.
Heading into Rome, Ostapenko had not recorded back-to-back wins since April. In the first round, she dominated Italian wildcard Stefania Stefanini with a bagel set, advancing smoothly. In the second round, she faced lucky loser Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania. After losing the first set 2-6, Ostapenko rallied to win the next two sets and secure a hard-fought victory.
In the third round, Ostapenko met China’s Zheng Qinwen. This was no easy task: Zheng had won all three of their previous encounters, and each time, she went on to achieve strong results, including her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. But this was their first meeting on clay, where Ostapenko has both a WTA title and a Grand Slam crown. The match proved tightly contested. Ostapenko broke early to lead 4-2 in the first set, but Zheng battled back by breaking twice and winning four straight games to take the set 6-4.
The second set stayed even through the first eight games, with both players holding serve. Then Ostapenko seized a crucial break and served out the set 6-4 to force a decider. In the third set, Ostapenko broke early again and held on to win 6-4, securing her first victory over Zheng. For Zheng, the loss marked her worst result in Rome.
Next up was another nemesis: Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, who had beaten Ostapenko four times previously. Once again, it was their first clash on clay. Ostapenko seized the opportunity to break the pattern. She dominated the first set 6-1, then closed out the second set 6-2 to end a four-match losing streak against Kalinskaya.
With these two consecutive wins over former rivals, Ostapenko reached her first clay court tour quarterfinal of the 2026 season. Although she eventually fell to Romania’s Sorana Cîrstea in the quarterfinals, overcoming long-standing mental and historical barriers was a significant achievement.
