Jelena Ostapenko has bid farewell to the China Open in Beijing in round two. Spectacular. That is, without a game win.
Basically, Jelena Ostapenko is an almost impossible candidate for not winning a single game in one set. The Latvian can be too powerful, four strokes within six points of the start of a service game should always be in there.
On the other hand, Ostapenko is again the ideal candidate for a 0:6. After all, no other player has the art to smash the ball behind the baseline as perfected as the 2017 French Open winner. On top of that, there is the sometimes incredibly weak second serve, which can be a direct mistake or an invitation to a winning shot in the opponent’s field.
Losing twice 0:6, but now that really requires respect. On the one hand, the winner Qiang Wang, who said goodbye to Jelena Ostapenko with the same result in the second round of the WTA Premier Mandatory tournament in Beijing. Within 55 minutes, that was 23 more than Steffi Graf once needed in the final of Roland Garros against Natalija Zvereva. By the way, this is already the third match in her career that the Chinese won with this result.
For Ostapenko, on the other hand, it was already zero numbers three and four this year: In Doha, she was not allowed to play in set one against Petra Kvitova (in set two also only two), against Alizé Cornet the opening match in Cincinnati was lost 0:6 in the third set.
On the other hand: Jelena Ostapenko is also able to complete a full and successful round – for example twice in Wimbledon against Nathalia Daitchenko and Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Irrespective of the unpleasant result, the vague prospect of a start at the WTA final in Singapore is now over: with the 1,000 points for the tournament victory in Beijing, Ostapenko could have stalked his way up to ninth place in the annual ranking. After her bankruptcy against Wang, the 21-year-old remains stuck in the region around 20th place.
A little consolation for Ostapenko: She was not the only player who was said goodbye on Tuesday in Beijing: Kiki Bertens sent Kirsten Flipkens 6-1 and 6-1 off the pitch, Naomi Osaka left Danielle Collins only one game.