Ostapenko marches on, but Goerges and Bencic out
Seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko needed three sets to beat Ying-Ying Duan at the Australian Open while Julia Goerges and Belinda Bencic crashed out.
French Open champion Ostapenko had to pull out all the stops to get the better of the world No 100 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
The match had 17 breaks of serve, but luckily for the world No 7 she came out in top to book her third-round clash against Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit.
Jelena #Ostapenko with an ???? influence in her corner with experienced #WTA coach David Taylor.#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/ovp6dpQrFr
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2018
“She was hitting the ball really hard,” Ostapenko said. “I’m so happy I could win.
“Everyone wants to beat you when you’ve won a Grand Slam so I’ll just keep trying my best.”
Meanwhile, Goerges’s magnificent unbeaten run came to an end as she lost in straight sets to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.
The 12th-ranked German went into the match on the back of 15 wins in a row after winning back-to-back titles at the end of 2017 and the Auckland Classic at the start of 2018.
However, Cornet brushed her aside 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 31 minutes on Margaret Court Arena.
“She had so many wins in a row and I’m just happy to break the spell,” Cornet said.
Benic, who upset American Venus Williams in the opening round, is also out after she went down 6-1, 6-3 against Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum.
Fourth seed Elina Svitolina is safely through after she came from a set down to beat Katerina Siniakova 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
The Ukrainian will face 15-year-old sensation Marta Kostyuk next.
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