Underdogs shine in Roland Garros women's draw

Jun 04, 2017

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Underdogs shine in Roland Garros women's draw

Ostapenko and Martic have made huge strides in Paris.

Published Jun 04, 2017

With all eyes on blockbuster matches on Sunday, underdogs continued their rise in Paris. Perhaps no "under the radar" player was more impressive than Jelena Ostapenko, as the young Latvian toughed out an in-form Samantha Stosur, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

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While the 19-year-old has played well since the start of the clay season, going 17-4 including qualifying matches, Stosur—who won last week in Strasbourg—is a former Roland Garros finalist who was defending a semifinal appearance.

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Ostapenko’s three-set victory was her fourth over a Top 25-opponent since April, and two of those have come against her next opponent: 11th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki. Wozniacki, who trails their head-to-head 3-0, also won in three sets against a player who many considered a tournament favorite: No. 8-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova.

But if you really want a feel good story, look no further than Petra Martic, who was ranked No. 659 in April, and is now in the fourth round at Roland Garros after blitzing No. 17-seeded Anastasija Sevastova, 6-1, 6-1 in 49 minutes.

Martic was hampered by a back injury following Wimbledon qualifying last year, and the 26-year-old endured a 10-month period of uncertainty.

“I started doubting if I could ever play again,” said Martic, who only expected to be out for two or three months. “If I knew at the beginning, okay, it’s going to take one year and you’ll be back, it would have been easier. But all this uncertainty, it was really, really hard for me.”

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The Croatian moves into the second week of Roland Garros for the second time in her career, having also reached the fourth round back in 2012. She reached her career-high ranking of No. 42 after that Parisian run five years ago.

Veronica Cepede Royg, ranked No. 97, backed up her upsets of former French Open finalist Lucie Safarova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to become the first Paraguayan to reach the fourth round of a major in 17 years. She did so by beating fellow South American Mariana Duque-Marino, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3.

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Could any of these underdogs continue their runs at the year’s second Grand Slam? Keep watching to find out.

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