Roland Garros: Jelena Ostapenko vs Paula Badosa preview, head-to-head & prediction | French Open 2020

Match details

Fixture: Jelena Ostapenko vs Paula Badosa Gibert

Date: 3 October 2020

Tournament: Roland Garros 2020

Round: Third round (Round of 32)

Venue: Paris, France

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Red clay

Prize money: Approx. €38,000,000

Match timing: Approx. 7 pm CEST, 10.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - NBC Sports / Tennis Channel | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP

Jelena Ostapenko vs Paula Badosa preview

Jelena Ostapenko will face Spain's Paula Badosa on Saturday, in the third round of the 2020 French Open.

Jelena Ostapenko has returned to top form this week at Roland Garros, to say the least. She is high on confidence on the back of her stunning win over second seed Karolina Pliskova in the previous round.

The Latvian produced a glorious all-round display on Thursday, barely putting a foot wrong against the much higher-ranked Czech. Ostapenko outplayed Pliskova in almost every department to register a thumping 6-4, 6-2 win over the World No. 4.

Before this week, Ostapenko hadn't won a match on the Parisian clay since winning her maiden Slam at the venue in 2017. The 23-year-old is now looking like one of the favorites to win the French Open again, but needs to take one match at a time - starting with her third-rounder against Paula Badosa.

Jelena Ostapenko was in top form against Pliskova

Badosa pulled off an upset over 29th seed and 2018 finalist Sloane Stephens in the second round. The Spaniard won a high percentage of her first serve points (74%) and was consistent from the baseline in comparison to the erratic Stephens, who leaked 36 unforced errors.

Badosa has progressed to the Round of 32 at a Major for the first time in her career. But the 22-year-old is a former junior Slam champion, having won the girls' title at Roland Garros in 2015.

Jelena Ostapenko vs Paula Badosa head-to-head

The third round match at Roland Garros between Jelena Ostapenko and Paula Badosa will be the first ever career meeting between the two. Their head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.

Jelena Ostapenko vs Paula Badosa prediction

Jelena Ostapenko gave perhaps the best all-round performance of her career in the second round against Pliskova. The Latvian seems to have found her groove again, and her game when it's on is best suited to clay in the current conditions.

The big-hitting Ostapenko can dictate rallies with her powerful groundstrokes, and change direction at will. That will be particularly useful on the slower than usual claycourts of Paris this year.

Paula Badosa

Paula Badosa impressed just as much in her previous match, putting up a strong display from the baseline while also keeping her unforced errors under check. The New-York born Spaniard has frequently given a good account of her effervescent, aggressive playing style.

If Ostapenko can reproduce her best play on the return and from the baseline, she should be able to outhit Badosa from the back of the court. But the Latvian is known to be inconsistent, and could just as easily suffer a major let-down.

If that happens, the far less erratic Paula Badosa would continue her progress and enter the second week. But the match would largely rest on the racquet of Ostapenko.

Prediction: Jelena Ostapenko to win in straight sets.