Jelena Ostapenko beats Barbora Krejcikova to claim first title of 2023 in Birmingham, Petra Kvitova wins Berlin Open

Jelena Ostapenko won her first title of the season as she defeated Barbora Krejcikova at the Birmingham Classic, while Petra Kvitova won the Berlin Open. The Latvian, seeded No. 2, defeated her No.1 seeded Czech opponent 7-6(8) 6-4 in the final.

Ad There were no breaks in the opening set, but Ostapenko leaned on her power to give her a breakthrough in the tie-break. Krejcikova reeled her back in but ultimately could not resist her opponent. WTA BerlinOstapenko ousts Williams in Birmingham thriller, Gauff and Sabalenka out in Berlin22/06/2023 AT 11:09 In the second set, Ostapenko raced to a 5-1 lead that was quickly cut back to 5-4, but Krejcikova had left it took late as Ostapenko held her serve.

Both women were competing not just for the title and ranking points, but in order to ensure they arrive at Wimbledon in the coming days in the best possible form on grass. Alcaraz outlcasses De Minaur to win Queen's and regain No. 1 ranking ahead of Wimbledon 'A beautiful fight' — Alcaraz savouring Djokovic duel for world No.

1 Alcaraz storms into Queen's final after De Minaur stuns Rune The match took almost two hours to complete, as Ostapenko held off a second-set rally from her rival. The win is Ostapenko’s first of the season but her sixth over the course of her career. Her last success came in Seoul, South Korea, in September 2022, and she most recently won on grass in Eastbourne two years ago.

Krejcikova’s performance in Birmingham is enough to bring her back into the top 10. In Germany, world No. 9 Kvitova won her second title of the season after defeating world No.

23 Donna Vekic 6-2 7-6(6). Kvitova now boasts six career grass titles going into WImbledon, where she has won twice. The Czech player is in decent form in