Maturity and confidence key for double-winner Jelena Ostapenko

Jelena Ostapenko has enjoyed a stunning start to the 2024 season having claimed her second WTA 500 title of the season in Linz.

Ostapenko has also done really well in the doubles format winning a title and taking part in a Grand Slam final.

She believes that confidence and maturity are helping her get the best out of her game.

“It was a really good week, and I felt like every match I was playing better and better,” Ostapenko said, after her win.

“It’s really amazing to win two singles trophies this year already, and winning a doubles trophy as well, [and] playing Australian Open [doubles] final — it’s like four tournaments and four finals, which is really great.

“I’m just happy with the way I’m playing this year. I think I feel like I’m more mature and more confident with my game, so it even motivates me more to work hard and get back to the Top 10.”

Ostapenko overcame No 2 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Upper Austria Ladies Linz tournament, making her the first player to win two WTA Tour singles championships this year.

In a match between two past runners-up in Linz, 2019 finalist Ostapenko defeated 2018 finalist Alexandrova in just 70 minutes to win her eighth career WTA singles championship.

With the triumph, Ostapenko of Latvia evened her head-to-head record with Alexandrova at five victories each.

Ostapenko has defeated Alexandrova twice already this year, adding her Linz triumph to a win in the semifinals in Adelaide last month.

She has recorded the wins over the Russian on her way to snapping up titles and it seems that facing her fierce rival has drawn out tyhe best in her.

This is the first year that Ostapenko has won multiple championships since her breakout season in 2017, when she won her first two titles at Roland Garros and in Seoul.

Ostapenko returned to Linz for the first time since reaching the final in 2019. That year, she lost the championship match to a young lucky loser named Coco Gauff, who went on to win her maiden WTA title in Austria.

Ostapenko’s comeback as the top seed in 2024 was almost cut short. Following her first-round bye this week, Ostapenko needed to save a match point in the Round of 16 round before overcoming qualifier Clara Tauson. After conquering that challenge, Ostapenko dropped no more than three games in each of her subsequent sets en route to the title.

READ MORE: Jelena Ostapenko puts herself on the cusp of achieving top ten return