Former French Open champion Ostapenko picked up exactly where she left off in Eastbourne, breaking Kartal immediately and racing into a 3-0 lead as she fired down winners and drew out mistakes from the Brit.
The 20th seed and former semi-finalist looked on her way to taking the first set when she led 5-2. But she failed to serve it out, throwing in too many double faults and giving Kartal a lifeline to break back.
It gave the world No. 51 a boost, and she saved three set points on her serve – two of them with winners – to draw level.
Ostapenko’s concentration started to drop and Kartal capitalised, breaking again to serve for the set and reeling off her fifth consecutive game to take it 7-5, courtesy of an unforced error from her rival’s racket.
The Latvian grew agitated and started complaining about people in the crowd, waving them away. But the second set followed a similar pattern to the first, and Ostapenko got the first break to put herself ahead, ripping more winners across Court 3.
Kartal survived a marathon game at 1-4 down, saving more break points and bursting out laughing as she chased down one of Ostapenko’s forehands and just made it to the ball, perfectly landing a winner at the back of the court.
The 28-year-old continued to impose herself on the Kartal serve and the British No. 3 eventually succumbed, getting broken to lose the second 6-2.
It was Kartal who drew first blood in the decider as the errors started to creep back in for Ostapenko, and she was broken in the first game. The 20th seed’s head started to go, and two unforced errors, a Kartal winner, and a double fault saw her drop serve again.
The former semi-finalist started to give up on balls, and the world No. 51 was just playing for fun. Kartal stopped dead in her tracks after hitting a passing show winner, unsure whether it had caught the line, but the electronic call never came, and she had another break point, taking it on another Ostapenko unforced error.
The Brit was primed to bagel Ostapenko in the final set, but the Latvian had a sudden resurgence, and it was her turn to break, finally getting herself on the board in the decider.
Stepping up to serve for the match for the second time, Kartal didn’t blink. An ace gave her three match points, and she held to love to send Ostapenko packing and get back into round two.
The 23-year-old reached the third round here in 2024 as a qualifier ranked down at No. 298. If she can beat Tomova in her next match, she’ll be able to match her impressive run from 13 months ago.
“I would say that was by far one of the toughest matches I’ve played, I struggle against the big hitters so to be able to get that win today after she beat me easily last week. I appreciate you guys coming out, when I needed it the most, you guys were there,” she said after the match.
“This tournament last year was probably the best tournament I’ve ever had and my most favourite. I left here last year feeling a much more confident player on and off the court. I knew my level was there, just eventually had to force it out of myself. This whole year I feel like I’m playing better, I’m improving each week. I want to see how far I can go this week.”
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