Ostapenko, who is ranked tenth in the WTA and seeded ninth in the tournament, beat Russian Anastasia Potapova (WTA No. 43) 6-4, 6-2 in the second round match.
In the first set, the Latvian tennis player won the opponent’s service game, leading 3-1, but then the opponent tied. At the end of the set, Ostapenko managed to beat her opponent in her service game and win 6-4 with the third set point.
In the second set, despite losing two games on her serve, Ostapéko broke her opponent four times and achieved a convincing 6-2 victory.
In the third round, for which Ostapenko earned 65 world ranking points, the winner will meet the Spaniard Sara Tormo (WTA 47th).
The Latvian tennis player was free from the first round, but in the first round Potapova beat the Chinese Wang Xia (WTA 53rd) 6-1, 7-5.
Before Friday’s match, Ostapenko prevailed 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the only match between them in the semifinals of the 2023 Birmingham tournament.
Ostapenko has won eight WTA singles tournaments in her career, winning two of them this year. In January, she won the Adelaide “WTA 500” series tournament, and in February – the Linz “WTA 500” series tournament.
The 23-year-old Potapova has won WTA tournaments twice. This year, she reached the quarterfinals of the Brisbane “WTA 500”, Linz “WTA 500” and Indian Wells “WTA 1000” series.
Ostapenko is playing in Rome for the ninth time, reaching the semi-finals last year, while Potapova has played in Rome three times, reaching the round of 16 last year.
Latvia’s number one racket will also compete in the doubles tournament in Rome together with Ukrainian Lyudmila Kičenok.
The tournament in Rome takes place on clay courts.
