Jelena Ostapenko eased into the last four of the Adelaide International with a resounding 7-5 6-3 win over Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk on Thursday.
Seeded sixth, the result was rarely in doubt for the Latvian who cooked up her standard mix of wild unforced errors combined with sublime touches and power play to leave Kostyuk floundering.
There was a point midway through the first set when Ostapenko looked like she was about to be outplayed by the athleticism of the 21-year-old Kostyuk, before the Roland Garros 2017champion conjured several baseline winners of great heft yet with little obvious effort.
For those seeking something a little different, Ostapenko is the ideal player: quirky, colourful and at times an immense presence. Yet the player you see on court is not necessarily the one you see at home, she says.
“In general I am not the same way that I am on the court,” said the woman who is also known for her love of ballroom dancing. “I feel when in my normal life that I am thinking more.”
It can be challenging for an intuitive player to embrace the norm, but Ostapenko is giving it a go.
“I [need to] work more on my consistency and be more aggressive, the last few seasons I was trying to play more accurately.”
At 4-2 up in the second set, a high return from Kostyuk took time to land and come down from the bounce; the wait sparked fears that one of Ostapenko’s (many) unforced errors might make a showing. The Latvian put the smash away splendidly to secure the point, but a broad smile underpinned that she too had perhaps been thinking along similar lines.
There is a touch of Monica Seles in the grit she brings although she is yet to match the four-time Australian Open winner’s consistency. But at 26 years old and ranked No. 12, Ostapenko has time on her side to add more major titles.
Kostyuk acquitted herself well and showed none of the inconsistency of Wednesday when she took more than two hours to dispose of lucky loser Taylor Townsend. Maybe the grand surroundings of Centre Court suit her best. A code violation for breaking her racket aside, Kostyuk was focused and retained the energy that is the fulcrum of her game.
The crowd was generous as Ostapenko took her bow.
“Thank you for coming, it was a tough match,” she said. “I played well today and in the first set was playing well even though she came from 5-2 to 5-5.”
Elena Rybakina or Ekaterina Alexandrova await in the semifinal