French Open: Five youngsters to watch in the women’s draw

Daria Kasatkina is the next generation Russian to hit the stage

2. Jelena Ostapenko (Age: 18 years, Rank: 36)

Just days away from her 19th birthday, Jelena Ostapenko is the youngest player on this list. One of the best juniors of her days, she was crowned the Wimbledon girls’ champion in 2014. This year, she has been steadily rising up the ranks and burst into the spotlight in February with a run to the final of the Premier 5 WTA tournament in Doha.

The Latvian can blast through the ball with a lot of ferocity and her game is undoubtedly more apt for the faster surfaces. But she did make the pre-quarter-finals of Rome on clay.

Given the competitive spirit she has displayed the past few weeks, the 32nd seed can be one to watch out for if she can hold her nerves. And that would help her to a great extent in a possible third round showdown with the sixth seed Simona Halep.

About the author

Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.

Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.

Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.

Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.

When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.

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Edited by Staff Editor