TennisSection previews the 2021 French Open as Sofia Kenin (4) meets Jelena Ostapenko in the Round of 128 on Monday, May 31st 2021.
Will Jelena Ostapenko be able to find the same form which saw her win her one and only Grand Slam here at Roland Garros in 2017? Will Sofia Kenin be able to get her campaign off here at the 2021 French Open started as well as she did in 2020 where she reached the Final? Both players can win this match if they are on top of their game, but only one will make their way to the Round of 64 of Roland Garros 2021. Who will it be?
Jelena Ostapenko will be coming back to the tournament where she played her best tennis in 2017, when she won the Roland Garros title. Jelena Ostapenko since then, has become a very inconsistent player unfortunately and she has gone down from 5th in the world to 44th in the world. Ostapenko, when on top of her game, is one of the toughest players to beat on the WTA Tour because she is such a tough fighter who will put so much power behind her shots and push opponents off the court in long and draining rallies. I am sure we all want to see Ostapenko back at her best, but she has been given a very tough draw here at the 2021 French Open as she meets Sofia Kenin right from the start.
Sofia Kenin will be looking to get her 2021 season back on track after struggling with form for the majority of the season. Sofia Kenin is a Grand Slam champion, and a Roland Garros Finalist at her young age off 22 years old. However, she needs to find the consistency which allowed her to reach those results. This year, Sofia Kenin has gone 7-8 in all of her matches, and she has not been at her best for someone ranked 5th in the world. Unfortunately for Sofia Kenin, she will now meet a clay-court lover in Jelena Ostapenko, and if she wants to defend her Finalist points from last year at Roland Garros, she needs to find a much higher level of play.
Sofia Kenin and Jelena Ostapenko have met 1 time before, with Jelena Ostapenko leading the head to head 1-0. They met last year in Fed Cup Qualifiers where Ostapenko won in 3 sets 6-3/2-6/6-2. Although Sofia Kenin had the best season of her career in 2020, in 2021 she has been very sub par. Jelena Ostapenko is finding some consistency here and there, and I believe that she will have a lot of belief in herself to get a big win under her belt here at the 2021 French Open. Jelena will come out here and show us her level of old, even if it might be just for one match.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Jelena Ostapenko to Win.
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