World No. 24 Jelena Ostapenko shared her emotions after defeating Iga Swiatek in the Stuttgart tournament quarter-finals with a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
This victory extends the Latvian player`s head-to-head lead over Swiatek to 6-0. Ostapenko has now achieved wins against Swiatek on all court surfaces.
When asked about her undefeated record against Swiatek, Ostapenko responded, “Perhaps it`s a bit of both – maybe she doesn`t enjoy playing against me, and I enjoy competing with her. Seriously though, I have a lot of respect for Iga, her team, and her contributions to tennis. But every match against her is a real battle. I`m always prepared to fight, even when I`m not feeling my best. Today, I gave it my all until the last point, and it paid off.”
Regarding Swiatek`s dominance on clay and her rare defeats on this surface, Ostapenko commented, “Thank you to everyone who came, the atmosphere in Stuttgart is always amazing! Iga is incredible on clay, but I`ve also won Roland Garros, so I know how to play on this surface. Today, I fought through some difficulties. In the second set, my game wasn`t clicking, but in the third, I told myself, `Forget the second set, start from zero and fight to the end.` By the way, the balls were getting slower, but I managed. I`m very proud of myself,” Ostapenko said in her on-court interview.
