By Alberto Amalfi | Saturday, June 26, 2021
World No. 43 Jelena Ostapenko overpowered Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-3 in the Eastbourne final becoming the third wild card in history to rule Devonshire Park.
Photo credit: @The_LTA
Jelena Ostapenko once contemplated a career as a professional dancer.
Today, Ostapenko high-stepped to her first career grass-court championship.
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World No. 43 Ostapenko overpowered Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-3 in the Eastbourne final becoming the third wild card in history to rule Devonshire Park.
It's Ostapenko's fourth career title and first since she beat Julia Goerges to win Luxembourg in October, 2019. Ostapenko is now a champion for all surfaces owning titles on clay (2017 Roland Garros), hard courts (2017 Seoul and 2019 Luxembourg) and now grass.
The 24-year-old Latvian converted four of eight break points as she charged out to a 5-1 first-set lead and a 4-1 second-set advantage forcing Kontaveit to play catch-up for much of the match.
"I just enjoyed this so much and I think it's great to win a title before Wimbledon," Ostapenko said. "It gives me kind of confidence.
"I was just trying to go without any expectations; just to enjoy the tennis. Because I knew Anett is such a great player and it's going to be a very difficult match. So I was really mentally ready for it. I just try to play my tennis."
Though Ostapenko made history when she won the 2017 Roland Garros to become the first unseeded champion in tournament history, she's long considered grass her favorite surface. Ostapenko won the Wimbledon girls' title in 2014 and became the first Latvian to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in 2018, losing to eventual-champion Angelique Kerber, who won the Bad Homburg title on grass today.
The unseeded Ostapenko should be a dangerous floater at Wimbledon where she opens against Canadian left-hander Leylah Fernandez on Tuesday.
"[I want to] just to go again without any expectations to not be hard on myself recoverer as much as I can," Ostapenko said of Wimbledon. "And just to enjoy it because I think I got some confidence and now it's time to show some good tennis at Wimbledon."