“This defeat is hard to take because I felt so good this tournament,” said Gauff, who reached the Roland Garros final with tears in her eyes. “I feel like I’ve become a better player, but when you’re up against someone like Jelena who has played so well it’s like you can’t do anything about it. It’s frustrating.”
The 25-year-old Ostapenko was in control from the start of the match. The 2017 Roland Garros winner, the Latvian has racked up 30 winners and Goff has broken three times. “I knew she was in good shape, but I have nothing to lose,” Ostapenko said after her victory. “I went in with the situation to fight for every point and played hard. I missed a lot of balls because of it, but the way I played it paid off.”
Ostapenko noted that, after winning the Grand Slam tournament in Paris, more than five years ago, she struggled with her new status. “You’re suddenly very popular in my country, everyone expects you to win every tournament. Great, but it took me a while to get used to it,” said the Latvian player, who will face Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals. Favorite Polish and number 1 in the world Iga Swiatek.
