Jelena Ostapenko plays as if the safe shot never occurs to her. Flat, early, aimed at the lines, her ball-striking is all risk and no apology, and when it lands the court looks small. In 2017 it landed for a fortnight in Paris. Unseeded and 20 years old, she swung her way to the Roland Garros title, the first unseeded woman to win it since 1933 and the first Latvian to win any major. It was, remarkably, her first tour-level title.
The gamble never left her game. She climbed to a career high of world No. 5 in March 2018, and her 9 career titles favour the fast surfaces where her hitting turns matches inside out. Few opponents suit that better than Iga Swiatek, whom Ostapenko has beaten in every meeting, across hard, grass and clay, or fellow ball-striker Petra Kvitova. The way she won that slam, without a shred of caution, is the whole story.
Eleven. That is where Maja Chwalinska now stands in the WTA rankings, up eleven places from 22 and one short of the top 10. The other big mover is Sonay Kartal, who climbs 121 places from 170 to 49, the largest single climb in the WTA rankings this week.
Ranking tale