Wimbledon: Ostapenko makes last eight, dismisses Putintseva

Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the No 13 seed, beat Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3 to move into the quarter-finals of Wimbledon at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Monday evening.

It was a match played almost entirely on Ostapenko’s terms, with the Latvian adopting her ultra-aggressive style of play to take the racquet out of Putintseva’s hands.

The No 13 seed struck 29 winners and 26 unforced errors, compared to eight winners and nine unforced errors for her opponent.

Ostapenko playing freely at Wimbledon

“I feel like I’m playing more my game, and especially in deciding moments I’m just going for the shots.” explained Ostapenko. “I don’t care if I miss it. I’m just playing the next one and the next one. I feel this way it’s working much better.”

“I’m just doing the things that I have to do. I’m playing aggressive, playing my game, yeah, just enjoying it probably more than before. 

“I mean, I have the ability to hit the ball hard, so why I shouldn’t use it?”

Ostapenko, ranked No 14, will face the winner of the match between American Danielle Collins, the No 11 seed, and No 31 seed Barbora Krejcikova next.

This is Ostapenko’s best run at Wimbledon since she made the semi-finals in 2018 – and she has dropped only 15 games in the process.

Ahead of her victory, the Latvian won against Australian wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic (6-1, 6-2), Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur (6-3, 6-0) and American Bernarda Pera (6-1, 6-3).

Putintseva, ranked No 35, won against German wildcard Angelique Kerber (7-5, 6-3), No 27 seed Katerina Siniakova (6-0, 4-6, 6-2) and Pole Iga Swiatek, the top seed (3-6, 6-1, 6-2) earlier in the tournament.

She had been unbeaten on grass this year up until now, and was on an eight-match winning streak.

Read also

“At some point, I was playing fearless” – Putintseva says Birmingham title gave her confidence

Tennis Majors

Londres (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 50.000.000, most recent results first):

• Danielle Collins vs. Barbora Krejcikova
• Elina Svitolina (21) beat Xinyu Wang: 6-2, 6-1
• Elena Rybakina (4) beat Anna Kalinskaya (17): 6-3, 3-0 ret.
• Emma Navarro (19) beat Coco Gauff (2): 6-4, 6-3
• Lulu Sun (Q) beat Emma Raducanu (WC): 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
• Jasmine Paolini (7) beat Madison Keys (12): 6-3, 6-7 (6), 5-5 ret.
• Donna Vekic beat Paula Badosa: 6-2, 1-6, 6-4