By Alberto Amalfi | Saturday, June 24, 2023
Jelena Ostapenko rallied past Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 setting up a Birmingham final vs. fellow former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Photo credit: Stephen Pond/Getty
Former French Open champions will face off in a blockbuster Birmingham final of the top two seeds.
A gritty Jelena Ostapenko rallied past Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 setting up a Birmingham final vs. fellow former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova.
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Earlier, Krejcikova saved four of five break points defeating Lin Zhu 6-3, 6-2 in today's first semifinal on the Birmingham grass.
The top-seeded Czech improved to 10-1 in WTA semifinals surging into her first career grass-court final.
Both Ostapenko and Krejcikova made their major mark on the red clay of Roland Garros yet both own skill sets that play well on British lawns, too.
The 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko owns a 4-2 lifetime record vs. 2021 Roland Garros singles and doubles champion Krecjikova.
Ostapenko topped Krejcikova 7-6(2), 6-0 in Rome last month; tomorrow's final will be their first clash on grass.
The second-seeded Latvian has shown stamina and feisty competitive spirit through this run to her first grass final since last summer when she made the final at the 2022 Eastbourne.
All four of Ostapenko's wins this week have gone the three set distance. She defeated Linda Noskova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 in her opener; fended off 43-year-old Venus Williams 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, then rallied past Magdalena Frech 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in yesterday's quarterfinals.
Through it all, Ostapenko has shown the confidence to crack the ball down the line at crunch time. Ostapenko is playing for her first grass-court title since she won the 2021 Eastbourne.