Pliskova vs Ostapenko: whose path at Rome tournament will end?

In the previous season Karolina Pliskova reached the final at Rome. She also claimed the title at Italian capital in 2019. Czech player obviously loves to play on local courts. In comparision with her performances on previous tornaments at Stuttgart and at Madrid, Karolina played more confident in the first two rounds.

In the first match against Anastasia Sevastova Czech player won by a score 6:3, 6:3. Clash against Zvonareva was a little bit tougher. Karolina had some problems with the serve, but she eventually managed to win in straight sets (7:5, 6:3).

Pliskova surely improved her game during those two matches and she is ready to beat Jelena Ostapenko once again. At Stuttgart, Karolina managed to defeat the Latvian player in three sets, despite a below average performance (6:7, 6:4, 6:3). 

Jelena Ostapenko is experiencing her most successful tournament in 2021. At Rome Latvian player managed to advance through three rounds for the first time during this season.

In the first two matches at the Italian capital Ostapenko beat Konta and Tomljanovic in straight sets, but in the round of 16 she needed three sets to defeat Kerber (4:6, 6:3, 6:4). It was a rollercoaster match and Kerber had chances for the win, but eventually Jelena took the victory.