French Open 2020: Jelena Ostapenko vs Karolina Pliskova Preview, Head-to-Head, Prediction for Roland Garros


French Open 2020: Jelena Ostapenko vs Karolina Pliskova Preview, Head-to-Head, Prediction for Roland Garros
Jelena Ostapenko (left) and Karolina Pliskova

A mouth-watering encounter is on the cards as former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko will take on 2nd-seed Karolina Pliskova in the second round at the French Open 2020. The contest is expected to be a thrilling affair as both are coming into this round after contrasting wins in their respective opening round matches.

Jelena Ostapenko vs Karolina Pliskova: Preview

Jelena Ostapenko

Talking about the performance in the Round of 128, Ostapenko did not even need to break a sweat. The 23-year old Latvian swatted aside the challenge of Madison Brengle in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. In the process, the World No. 43 racked up her first victory at Roland Garros since winning the title in 2017.

On the other hand, Pliskova has certainly not fully recovered from the injury that she picked up in Rome as was evident in her first-round match. The 28-year old Czech stunningly lost the first set against qualifier Mayar Sherif before bouncing back to win the marathon encounter 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. The World No.4 needs to consider the problems she is facing otherwise she might be leaving France earlier than expected.

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Jelena Ostapenko vs Karolina Pliskova: Head-to-Head

Karolina Pliskova

The two athletes have a good mini-rivalry between them as prior to their meeting at Roland Garros the two women have faced each other 5 times. Pliskova slightly leads the head-to-head record 3-2, though the last time they met, Ostapenko got the better of the Czech ina three-set thriller. It was a first-round match in Beijing in 2019, where the scoreline read 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in the favour of the Latvian.

Jelena Ostapenko vs Karolina Pliskova: Prediction

Karolina Pliskova

If it was not for her struggles in the opening round, Pliskova would have been an outright winner. It still looks though that the Czech may just cross the line as there is no denying the fact that Ostapenko is a tougher opponent than Mayar Sherif. The momentum is on Ostapenko’s side after winning her first match at the French Open in three years, making the life of Pliskova all the more difficult. Still, it would be wiser to back the Czech to come out of the humdinger of a contest.

Match Prediction: Karolina Pliskova defeats Jelena Ostapenko in a nail-biting contest which is certain to go to the distance.

Also Read: French Open 2020: Kiki Bertens vs Sara Errani Preview, Head-to-Head, Prediction for Roland Garros