Surprise French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko returned to the tour with a bang in Eastbourne on Monday with a typically explosive, three-set win over Carla Suarez Navarro.
If there were any nerves associated with stepping on court for the first time as a Grand Slam champion they weren’t obvious as the 20-year-old played with the bang-crash-wallop kind of freedom that did the job so impressively in Paris in early June.
Having pulled out of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham on doctor's advice a week earlier, the world No.14 - who was ranked outside the top 70 in mid-February - was
ultimately too powerful for the Spaniard during a 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 second round victory in blustery conditions.
Given it was the Latvian’s first match in just over two weeks, there were always going to be ups and downs in front of a big Court 1 crowd at Devonshire Park. And so it proved.
The first set featured a barrage of winners from the youngster, the second set some intelligent variation from the Spaniard - as well as an Ostapenko injury timeout for treatment to her right thigh - and the third hinged on a couple of tight service games that went the Latvian’s way.
Ostapenko managed to hold onto her serve to edge ahead 3-2 in the decider, and did the same to move ahead 5-2 which ultimately gave her the breathing space required to finish the job.
The task of backing up a Grand Slam win with consistent results at such a young age shouldn’t be underestimated, nor too the job of stringing together wins on clay and then grass in such a short space of time.
But given Ostapenko is a former Junior Wimbledon champion and after her performance in the final in Paris when she recovered from a set and 3-0 down to beat Simona Halep, she will be a name to monitor closely in SW19.
World No.2 Halep for one believes Ostapenko can build on her recent success. “I don't believe she has pressure,” said Halep, who starts her week in Eastbourne against Chinese qualifier Duan Ying-Ying on Tuesday.
We know that she didn't play every tournament like she played in French Open, but I think now she has extra, more confidence, and I think she can stay there more and win more
“She's going for it every time. I think she will be OK. She will play the same. We know that she didn't play every tournament like she played in French Open, but I think now she has extra, more confidence, and I think she can stay there more and win more.”
The big news in the ladies' draw on the south coast on Monday was British wild card Heather Watson’s shock victory over defending champion and world No.9 Dominika Cibulkova.
Defying a ranking gap of 117 places, Watson held her nerve to complete a 7-5, 6-4 success to make it two wins inside 48 hours after beating Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko in the first round on Sunday.
“I think the long match yesterday really helped my form today,” said the world No.126. “I didn't feel tired or anything coming in today. I was actually really happy I was on the schedule again. I just felt everything came together and I played really well.”
There were no such problems for third-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova who eased past American Alison Riske 6-4, 6-3 earlier on day two.
News that last week’s Birmingham champion Petra Kvitova would miss the event broke early on Monday. She announced she is struggling with an abdominal strain, but hopes to be fit in time to bid for a third Wimbledon title after being sidelined recently following a knife attack at her home last December.
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