Lexus Eastbourne Open 2026: Former champion Jelena Ostapenko moves past Francesca Jones in straight sets
• 2 minute read
Third seed Jelana Ostapenko kicked off her quest for a second Lexus Eastbourne Open title with a convincing win over Britain’s Francesca Jones.
Ostapenko, who picked up the trophy here in 2021, looked unstoppable on the grass as she moved past Jones 6-2, 6-2 in just an hour and four minutes on Centre Court.
The world No.37, who’s beginning her grass court season here, picked up her 20th career win in Eastbourne in her 10th appearance at Devonshire Park.
The Latvian, who also reached the final here in 2022, made the semi-finals in Doha earlier this year as well as recording quarter-final runs on the clay in Linz and Rome and will be eyeing up more success on these familiar grass courts.
“It’s a very special place for me”, she explained post-match. “I won here many years ago and honestly I love the grounds at this tournament. I think it’s so chill and nice here by the sea.
“This court is very special that I won a title here, so I hope you guys enjoyed the match - I enjoyed it!”
“I think grass courts are feeling my game pretty well and everything kind of started when I won junior Wimbledon.
"I always loved to come to this country, and I feel like I enjoy playing in front of you guys - you’re a very good crowd to play with. I just enjoy the grass court season a lot.”
Ostapenko came out swinging, collecting a break before backing it up with a love hold. Jones responded well, putting pressure on her opponent to create an opening but the Brit couldn’t make her chances count, allowing the Latvian to race full steam ahead.
The world No.35 dropped just four points on serve (17/21) as she picked up a second brace at 5-2 before serving it out in little over half an hour.
Building on this momentum in the second, the 2021 champion jumped to 2-0 lead again. Jones held her head high, fighting for all the points but Ostapenko proved unstoppable, bringing up her fourth break of the match to give her the chance to serve it out.
A pair of double faults gave Jones a lifeline in the final game but never one to back down, a final ace out wide secured the win.
In the second round she’ll face the winner of the all-Hungarian match up between Panna Udvardy and Anna Bondar that takes place on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, fellow Brit Hannah Klugman bowed out after a hard-fought battle against world No.61 Tereza Valentova.
The 17-year-old fought back from a set down, piling the pressure on the Czech star before eventually missing out 7-5, 7-5, 7-5.
The Brit struggled on serve – laying down 13 double faults with a first serve percentage of just 49% - but capitalised on Valentova’s weak serving as well as the pair exchanged 17 breaks between them.
However, Klugman couldn’t find a way to win – losing serve at 6-5 in the final set to let Valentova take it with her second match point.
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