Jelena Ostapenko was at her streakiest and, ultimately, best as she overcame No.10 seed Barbora Krejcikova 7-6(2), 6-0 to reach the last 16 of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
Here are the key numbers behind the No.20 seed's rollercoaster victory.
16 - From 1-1, 30-0 in the first set, Ostapenko lost 16 straight points in a blizzard of unforced errors to trail 5-1.
5 - From 5-1 down, Ostapenko started raining down winners, and took five straight games to lead 6-5. During this stretch, she won 20 out of 27 points and did not face game point.
28 - From 6-6 in the first set and trailing 2-0 in the tiebreak, Ostapenko won 28 of the next 31 points to lead 5-0, 15-0 in the second set. She sealed the tiebreak with one of her four total aces, and then lost just three points in the first five games of the second set. Her run included a streak of 11 straight points in the first three games of the second set.
7 - Though Krejcikova showed some resistance to hold break point in the last game of the match, she was unable to take it. Ostapenko came through that last test to sweep the last seven games of the contest. Ultimately, the Latvian won 32 of the last 38 points of the match.
𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐌!💥
— Internazionali BNL d'Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 14, 2023
An unplayable Ostapenko defeats seed No. 10 Krejcikova 7-6(2) 6-0 to set up a R16 battle against Kasatkina!
#IBI23 | @WTA pic.twitter.com/eDLvyuYVR5
21 - Ostapenko finished with 21 winners to 18 unforced errors. Krejcikova's form fell away rapidly in the second set, and the Czech ended with nine winners to 23 unforced errors.
4 - The result puts Ostapenko into the last 16 in Rome for the fourth time. She was a quarterfinalist in 2018 and 2021, and made the third round in 2017.
4-2 - Ostapenko now holds a 4-2 overall head-to-head lead over fellow Roland Garros champion Krejcikova. This was their second clay-court encounter; Ostapenko also won the other 6-1, 6-4 in 2015 Prague qualifying.
4-2 - Ostapenko also holds a 4-2 overall head-to-head lead over her next opponent, No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina. They are tied at one win apiece on clay. Ostapenko won their only previous red clay match 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the 2015 Trnava ITF W100.
In Ostapenko's words: "In the beginning she played well. I was not really playing my game, and I was struggling a little bit. At the end I played well and I didn't give her many chances to play. It's important on these days when you don't play your best to manage it.
"When I won some games and it was 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, maybe she got a little stressed because it's not easy to manage to win when it's been easy but then it gets closer.
"[Kasatkina] is a good player but I always have to play my game against her and focus more on myself. If I play like I did in the second set, I hope I can bring that energy and that level."
Kasatkina wins ninth-longest match of 2023: Daria Kasatkina was another former Rome semifinalist returning to the last 16. The No.8 seed needed to win the longest match of the tournament to date, and the ninth-longest at tour level in 2023 so far, defeating Julia Grabher 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) in 3 hours and 19 minutes.
Highlights: Kasatkina d. Grabher
Photos: All of 2023's three-hour matches
Kasatkina led 7-5, 3-0 but had to withstand 58 forehand winners from the No.89-ranked Austrian to advance. Grabher, 26, was playing a Top 10 opponent for just the second time in her career following her 6-3, 6-2 loss to Iga Swiatek in the second round of Madrid a fortnight ago.
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