Women’s Italian Internationals: Ostapenko in semifinals, beats Badosa

Women’s Italian Internationals: Ostapenko in semifinals

It is Jelena Ostapenko who is the third semifinalist of the Internazionali d’Italia women’s tournament. The 25-year-old Latvian, world No. 20 and 2017 Roland Garros champion, at the end of an hour and 50 minutes of battle, beat Spain’s Paula Badosa, ranked No. 35, 6-2 4-6 6-3.

Four breaks in the first five games of the match, three of them in favor of Ostapenko, who went 5-1, then pocketing the first partial. Badosa went 4-1 up in the second set, got a comeback at 4-4 but then won the decisive break in the tenth game.

Finally in the third set, Ostapenko goes up 2-0, gets a comeback but immediately regains the break lead winning four of the last five games. Her next opponent will be the winner between Poland’s Iga Swiatek, world No. 1, and Russian-Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina.