LINZ, October 9, 2019 (by Alessandro Boroch)

First up on Centre Court at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz on Wednesday was 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko, who faced German qualifier Tamara Korpatsch. The Latvian just dropped four games as she eased past to a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Korpatsch in one hour and 13 minutes. Ostapenko, who arrived in Linz on Tuesday, has former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli as a special coach on her side for this week.

“We are really good friends, we decided to try and work together this week. Today I played really well,” said Ostapenko.

Marion Bartoli added: “She sometimes asked me about a player when I was commentating. We have the same game style, it’s easy for me to understand the way she plays.“

Afterwards, the second round match between 15-year-old lucky loser CoCo Gauff and Kateryna Kozlova took place on Centre Court. Kozlova suffered a lower left leg injury during the second set, which caused into a retirement from the 25-year-old Ukrainian at 6-4, 4-6, 0-2.

After advancing into the quarterfinal in Linz, Gauff will crack the top 100 at the age of only fifteen on Monday.

„In January this year, I sent a message to my friends, saying I want to finish the year inside the Top 100, but it was really far-fetched, I was at 800 or something,” commented Gauff on her achievement.

The longest match of the day was held on Show Court between World No. 43 Elena Rybakina and German qualifier Anna-Lena Friedsam. Rybakina went on winning the first set, but she felt a little pain during the second set, which caused into a medical time-out by the Kazakh. Despite being a bit injured and having lost the second set, Rybakina battled through that match after two hours and 15 minutes, winning 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Number one seed Kiki Bertens started her title bid at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz with a straight-sets-victory over Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi, 6-4, 7-5. Apart from wanting to win the singles title in Linz for the first time in her career, the Dutch is also still trying to secure a place into the WTA Finals in Shenzhen.

The last match of the day took place between No. 5 seed Julia Görges and her compatriot Andrea Petkovic. Petkovic repeated last year’s first-round victory against Görges in Linz, beating her 7-6(2), 6-0 this time.

The winner of the all-🇩🇪 clash at @WTALinz is @AndreaPetkovic!

She defeats Goerges 7-6(2), 6-0 to move into the quarterfinals. pic.twitter.com/94JZvHAoCv

— WTA (@WTA) October 9, 2019

Also in action were No. 8 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who ousted Kristyna Pliskova 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who got seeded as No. 9, after Sevastova withdrew due to a right shoulder injury. The 28-year-old Russian took out Austrian No. 1 Barbara Haas 6-3, 6-3 in front of a packed crowd on Centre Court.

Thursday’s second round singles matches in Linz will start at 2 pm with Ekaterina Alexandrova facing Laura Siegemund on Centre Court for a spot into the quarterfinal.

RESULTS – October 09, 2019 Women’s Main Draw Singles – First Round

J. Ostapenko (LAT) d [Q] T. Korpatsch (GER) 61 63

E. Alexandrova (RUS) d Kr. Pliskova (CZE) 36 61 60

[9] A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d [WC] B. Haas (AUT) 63 63

[1] K. Bertens (NED) d [Q] M. Doi (JAP) 63 75

RESULTS – October 09, 2019 Women’s Main Draw Singles – Second Round

[LL] C. Gauff (USA) d K. Kozlova 46 64 20 (RET)

E. Rybakina (KAZ) d A-L. Friedsam (GER) 63 57 64

A. Petkovic (GER) d [5] Julia Görges (GER) 76 60

RESULTS – Women’s Main Draw Doubles – First Round

V. Kuzmova (SVK) / Y. Sizikova (RUS) d D. Jakupovic (SLO) / S. Santamaria (USA) 64 63

[WC] C. Gauff (USA) / C. McNally (USA) d. K. Christian (USA) / A. Guarachi (CHI) 62 63

[1] B. Krejcikova (CZE) / K. Siniakova (GZE) d. [ALT] A-L. Friedsam (GER) / V. Lepchenko (Walkover)