Tennis: Jelena Ostapenko, Ex-World No. 5, Advances to the Semi-Finals in Adelaide

Jelena Ostapenko, once ranked fifth in the world, is gearing up for the Australian Open with a strong performance at the Adelaide International. She secured her spot in the semi-finals after defeating Marta Kostyuk 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday. The 12th-ranked player from Latvia, who won the French Open in 2017, is showing signs of returning to her peak form in time for the Australian Open, set to commence on January 14. Ostapenko will start her Australian Open journey against Australia’s Kimberley Birrell.

Ostapenko, who recently made it to the quarter-finals in Brisbane, won a tightly contested first set against Ukraine’s Kostyuk and upped her game in the second set, breaking Kostyuk’s serve to lead 3-1. She maintained her momentum and stylishly clinched the match to make it to the last four. The 26-year-old will next face either Elena Rybakina or Ekaterina Alexandrova.

In other matches at the Adelaide International, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is set to play against second seed Jessica Pegula. Daria Kasatkina of Russia has already advanced to the next round after Laura Siegemund withdrew. In the men’s draw, Sebastian Korda, who made it to the quarter-finals of the 2023 Australian Open, won comfortably against Christopher O’Connell.

At the Auckland Classic, top seed Ben Shelton moved into the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Roberto Carballes Baena. He will face Taro Daniel, who triumphed over Alexandre Muller. Meanwhile, British player Cameron Norrie had to withdraw from his match against Alejandro Tabilo due to a wrist injury.