Former champ Ostapenko overcomes Wang Xiyu in Dubai three-setter

No.9 seed Jelena Ostapenko survived a barrage of aces from qualifier Wang Xiyu to advance to the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in 2 hours and 2 minutes.

Afterwards, the in-form Latvian admitted that she had lost track of the score at the end of the match.

"I thought the score was 5-2, and when it was 6-3, I was like, 'What's happening?'," she said in her on-court interview. "It's the first time I miscounted the score in my life, maybe since juniors. I was ready to play more, and the match was already over!"

Ostapenko improves to 15-3 this season, having already collected two titles in Adelaide and Linz. Last month, she returned to the Top 10 after a gap of over five years. This win was her second in as many meetings with Wang, whom she also defeated 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1 in the first round of Miami 2021.

The World No.9 is one of three former champions competing in Dubai this year, along with two-time winner Elina Svitolina and 2016 titlist Sara Errani (who fell to Wang in qualifying). In 2022, Ostapenko defeated four Grand Slam champions in a row en route to the trophy, and is ready to draw on those memories again this year.

"When I won in 2022 I had such tough matches," she recalled. "I feel this energy here."

Former Roland Garros champion Ostapenko will next face either Paula Badosa or wild card Lulu Sun.

How the match was won: Against Wang, Ostapenko kept a level head through the match's momentum swings. After coming out on top of a three-break exchange at the start of the match, Ostapenko seemed in control as she advanced to a 5-3 lead. But Wang hit a purple patch on serve, firing six aces in two games; while Ostapenko suffered the opposite, double-faulting twice to squander the chance to serve out the set.

But Wang failed to maintain her momentum. On two separate occasions in the second set, she double-faulted to go break point down; in both those games, Ostapenko converted the break thanks to errant Wang forehands.

The World No.64's tally of 11 aces was an eye-catching statistic, and when she dug herself out of a 0-40 hole with five consecutive unreturned serves to lead 3-2 in the third set, Wang seemed to have regained the advantage. But instead it was Ostapenko who shrugged off that setback to race through the last four games, winning 16 of the last 20 points of the match and converting her first match point thanks to a dead net cord.

Ostapenko finished with 23 winners to 19 unforced errors, maintaining a positive or equal ration across all three sets. But whereas Wang's 13 winners to seven unforced errors were enough to win her the first set, the rest of the match saw her commit 25 unforced errors to only 13 winners.