Doha: Ostapenko Interview
An interview with Jelena Ostapenko after her win in the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open.
An interview with Jelena Ostapenko after her win in the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open.
DOHA, Qatar – Carla Suárez Navarro returned to the main stage of the Qatar Total Open to play the doubles final with Sara Errani, having just won the singles title over Jelena Ostapenko a mere hours before. Pushing No.4 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching tough over two sets, the sisters ultimately defeated the Spaniard and Italian, 6-3, 6-3, to win their second tournament of 2016.
“Today’s match wasn’t easy, despite the score,” elder sister Yung-Jan said during the on-court interview. “They’re for sure very tough opponents who’ve been playing really well. I was sick and having a fever, coughing, but we’re happy to make it until the last match!”
The Chans won their home tournament just two weeks ago at the Taiwan Open, donating their prize money to their country’s hurricane relief effort, and played a near-perfect final against Errani and Suárez Navarro, hitting 21 winners to only 10 errors – a far cleaner match than their opponents, who hit 19 winners and 22 unforced.
“It’s the first time we’ve played together at the Qatar Open, but we’re the champions!” Hao-Ching said. “So we’re very happy and would like to come back next year.”
For the runners-up, it’s still a stellar Middle East Swing, as Errani already walked away with the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships while Suárez Navarro won Doha, and the pair reached the semifinals in Dubai’s doubles event, as well.
“It was two very nice weeks for us,” Errani said. “I’m very happy to play doubles with Carla; it’s amazing. She did an unbelievably great job playing singles and doubles.”
“I cannot wait to play our next tournament together. We had fun here and played well,” Suárez added.
As for the Chans, the win in Doha propels them to No.2 on the Road to Singapore standings, one behind Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza; until this week’s loss to Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina, the No.4 seeds were the last team to beat Santina before they went on a 41-match winning streak.
“Already No.2? I think that’s a pretty good start to the year!” Yung-Jan said.
“We’re very happy, but we didn’t check before the match, so it’s a surprise for us!” Hao-Ching said as the sisters shared a laugh during the trophy ceremony.
ACAPULCO, Mexico – No.2 seed Sloane Stephens needed a final set tie-break against unseeded former Australian Open finalist and 2014 Abierto Mexicano Telcel champion Dominika Cibulkova, but the American finally got the job done against the Slovak, winning, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5).
“I got a little bit better today because of her, and I wouldn’t want to have this memory with anyone else,” Stephens said of Cibulkova during the trophy ceremony.
Stephens led Cibulkova by a set and a break before the 26-year-old, who won their previous encounter at last year’s Rogers Cup, roared back to level the match at a set apiece. In what became the longest final thus far in 2016, the two fought through several long games in the final set before heading to a tie-break. Racing out to a 5-2 lead, Stephens held three match points, converting her third on a Cibulkova forehand error.
“We had a great week and a great start to the year, and I’m looking forward to keeping it going.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played in front of a crowd quite like this. Thank you for letting me experience this in Acapulco because it’s something I’ll remember forever.”
“This is one of my favorite tournaments,” Cibulkova said in her runner-up speech. “It feels like home because of the people who work here and all the fans and sponsors. I’m a little disappointed with the result today, but that’s tennis. I hope to be back here next year and maybe get the trophy again.:
Having started the year with a title at the ASB Classic – where she beat former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki en route – Stephens now has three WTA titles and, most impressively, remains undefeated in finals (winning her first title last year at the Citi Open).
The doubles final took place earlier in the evening, and top seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja defeated No.2 seeds Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson, 6-0, 6-4.
Andrea Petkovic had the shot of the match in the quarterfinals at the Qatar Total Open.
DOHA, Qatar – Carla Suárez Navarro produced 62 minutes of immaculate tennis to swat aside No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska and take her place in the final of the Qatar Total Open.
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In one of the best performances of her career, Suárez Navarro outthought and outplayed the WTA’s resident magician to run out a surprisingly comfortable 6-2, 6-0 winner.
After an even start, Suárez Navarro laid down a marker in the fifth game, flashing winners off either wing to get her nose in front. A few games later she had the insurance break before calmly serving out the set.
A nasty tumble in the first game of the second set briefly halted the Spaniard’s charge. But after dusting herself down, normal service was immediately resumed: a whipped cross-court forehand and then a wonderful instinctive volley handing her the break.
In stark contrast, Radwanska cut a forlorn figure, the brilliance that decorated her three-set victory over Roberta Vinci the previous evening conspicuous by its absence. The Pole’s mood darkened in the following game when she netted a routine forehand to spurn a rare break opportunity.
With Suárez Navarro’s groundstrokes now in full flow, Radwanska was soon put out of her misery, the final four games flying by in a flurry of winners.
“Today I feel really, really good,” Suárez Navarro, who hit 20 winners and just eight unforced errors, said. “I think also she was a little tired from yesterday.”
Suárez Navarro is also hoping to reach the doubles final with partner Sara Errani, and was quick to dismiss any suggestion that her visit from the trainer would jeopardize their chances. “I’m running a lot, I fight a lot, and sometime I finish like that,” she said when asked about the after effects of her second set slip. “But now I feel good and I have doubles – I’m feeling better!”
By reaching the semifinals Suárez Navarro guaranteed a return to the Top 10 and her latest win will see her rise to a career-high No.6 in the new rankings.
“You work for a long time for this. And to be in the Top 10 is obviously good. I feel good, I feel happy and I think I’m ready for tomorrow.”
Agnieszka Radwanska had the shot of the match in the quarterfinals at the Qatar Total Open.
DOHA, Qatar – Unseeded 18 year old Jelena Ostapenko displayed some blistering groundstrokes through a 7-5 opening set in the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open, and was leading by an early break in the second before Andrea Petkovic was forced to retire due to injury.
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Petkovic survived several long games to take a 5-1 lead to start, but pain in her left thigh and increased pressure from Ostapenko saw that lead slip and the Latvian served out the opening set after winning six games in a row, hitting 26 winners to 17 unforced errors.
“I’m really happy with how I played today,” she said in her on-court interview. “I’m sorry for Andrea that she had to retire. It’s not nice after reaching the semis because she’s great player. I’m really happy that I could fight from 5-1 and win the set.
“I’m really happy to play the finals tomorrow.”
Up next for Ostapenko is No.8 seed Carla Suárez Navarro, who dismantled Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2, 6-0, in the first semifinal. Into her second career final – and the biggest of her career after she finished runner-up at the Coupe Banque National last fall – Ostapenko beat Suárez Navarro in their only previous encounter, dropping just two games when they played at last year’s Wimbledon Championships.
“She has been playing great this week; she had some really great matches and I hope I can show my best tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.”
A young woman of few words, the Latvian is poised to crack the Top 50 after an impressive week of wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova and Petra Kvitova, joining fellow 18-year-olds Belinda Bencic and Daria Kasatkina.
“It’s just the start of the career; I don’t think I have anything to celebrate because I still have to play the finals tomorrow!”
Agnieszka Radwanska had a second shot of the match in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.
Courtney Nguyen, Point: For the second straight season, Carla Suárez Navarro has started the year by playing her best tennis. And yet, 2016 feels different. The Spaniard was the most consistent player in the first half of 2015, making the quarterfinals or better at 10 of her first 11 tournaments. Yet she had no titles to show for it, and most importantly, she struggled mightily at the majors. She lost in the first round of three of the four majors.
With her dominant 6-2, 6-0 win over World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska, Suárez Navarro has backed up yet another strong start and is one win away from the biggest title of her career at the Qatar Total Open. Her run in Doha comes off a great January, which saw her make the semifinals at the Brisbane International and the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. With a more aggressive mindset and renewed calm – she has been working with a sports psychologist – the Canary Islands native has reversed her trend and is now finding her best tennis at the sport’s biggest events.
On Monday she will rise to a career-high ranking at No.6, just one spot short of her pre-season goal of cracking the Top 5. If she wins the title she will rise to No.2 in the Road to Singapore behind Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.
As the women around her fell to upset, Suárez Navarro has been been workmanlike in her effort and consistency. She has not dropped a set in her four matches, with wins over Donna Vekic, Timea Bacsinszky, Elena Vesnina, and Radwanska. Not even a scary fall late in the first set against Radwanska could derail her.
But she goes from being largely overlooked at the start of the week, to the underdog in her semifinal, to the overwhelming favorite in Saturday’s final. Suárez Navarro is the first to admit that the nerves can get to her in the big occasions. With 18-year-old Jelena Ostapenko playing her first Premier final on Saturday, Suárez Navarro is the one with the experience. Just last year she made finals at the Miami Open and Italian Open.
But unlike the rest of the women Ostapenko stunned this week, Suárez Navarro knows exactly what to expect against the Latvian. Ostapenko steamrolled her last year in the first round at Wimbledon, 6-2, 6-0, in a loss that sent the Spaniard reeling for the remainder of the season.
“She played really fast, really fast,” Suárez Navarro told reporters in Doha. “She knows how to play tennis. She play also solid here this week, I saw her. But in the final, you never know what going to be happen. A lot of emotions, nervous sometimes. Will be tough.”
“I need to be ready, because I know how she plays. If she plays good, will be tough for me.”
I don’t put much stock in that Wimbledon loss. A junior Wimbledon champion, Ostapenko’s game is well suited for grass and fast surfaces, while it is by far the Spaniard’s worst surface. The Spaniard also came into that tournament exhausted from the first six months of the season. It’s a different story this week.
This is no gimme for Suárez Navarro, but she’s shown no sign of weakness all tournament. In fact, she’s played better and better with every match. Against Radwanska, she held her position on the baseline with ease and took the ball clean and early. As she told the crowd afterwards, she was feeling the ball good. She could put the ball wherever she wanted.
Ostapenko offers a completely different challenge. She hits a big flat ball. She’s far more offensive-minded than Radwanska and the depth and weight of her shot can push her opponents off the baseline. She also can struggle with consistency and rack up errors quickly. If Suárez Navarro can play her game and move Ostapenko deep into the corners, she should be able to outsteady her more erratic opponent.
David Kane, Counterpoint: Jelena Ostapenko came to Doha having won just one main draw match since reaching her first WTA final at the Coupe Banque Nationale in September. Two players out of the main draw, the 18-year-old Latvian was merely gearing herself up for another bout of qualifying at the start of the week.
“First, it was like second round of qualies, and I was just really happy that I got main draw,” she said on Friday. “In my first match, I was just trying to play my best tennis. Match by match, I played better and better.”
Elevating her game for some stiff opposition, Ostapenko earned back-to-back wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova and No.5 seed Petra Kvitova.
“I beat some players in the Top 10, some Grand Slam champions, as well. I get confidence from that. I’m able to see that I can also play on that level.
“It’s better for me because with every match I get more and more confident.”
She outhit Zheng Saisai in the quarterfinals and refused to buckle in the semis, even as she fell behind 5-1 in the first set against Andrea Petkovic. Narrowly losing some tight early games to the German, Ostapenko found her range off her booming forehand – one reminiscent of Ana Ivanovic or even Anna Kournikova – just as her opponent began to struggle with a left thigh injury, retiring after losing seven games in a row.
“I was just trying to stay consistent and to not miss easy balls, because she was playing amazing in the first set. I was just trying to fight for every point and I think it helped me.
“I feel pity for Andrea that she couldn’t finish the match. I hope she recovers better. After when she’s in a good form, we can have a great match.”
Unafraid of big stages, she won main draw matches in her Grand Slam main draw debuts at Wimbledon and the US Open, trouncing Suárez Navarro, 6-2, 6-0, at the former.
“It was a great match for me because it was my first win against a Top 10 player, and grass is my favorite surface. I felt really good there.
“She’s playing really great this week. It’s going to be a tough match tomorrow.”
Her run in Doha already guarantees her of a Top 50 debut, joining fellow 18-year-olds Belinda Bencic and Daria Kasatkina – the largest cohort of teens since 2009. While Bencic and Kasatkina rely more on consistency, Ostapenko is a streaky player, and has been on one heck of a streak in Qatar, dropping just one set in five matches.
Playing one of the biggest matches of her career, she can certainly hit through the Spanish veteran – proving as much at the All England Club – and so the question will be whether the young Latvian will be able to hold her nerve and keep control of her powerhouse game.
As bluntly precise in press as she is on the court, the youngster sees things even more simply.
“I will try to show my best tennis.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.