The year 2024 was the best in Magdalena Fręch's career. The Pole won her first WTA tournament – in Guadalajara – and also took the highest place in the ranking – 22nd, although she is currently in 24th place. Fans believed that the Pole would also start the 2025 season successfully, but this did not happen. She first started in Brisbane, but in the first match she lost quite unexpectedly 5:7, 3:6 Suzan Lamens. She had a chance to make up for her defeat at the WTA in Adelaide. There, she faced an extremely difficult challenge at the start.
Another defeat for Fręch. A great start to the match, but what happened later the Pole will want to quickly forget
And that challenge was the fight with Jelena Ostapenko. The Latvian is a real nightmare for Iga Świątek, with whom she fought four times and came out on top each time. Fręch didn't have the best memories of her either. The ladies competed once and Ostapenko raised her hand in triumph. And before Tuesday's match, the 17th racket in the world was the favorite, although the beginning of the competition suggested that the Pole might surprise.
The first four games were two breaks in favor of our compatriot. This one played confidently and, above all, more precisely. She made fewer mistakes, which resulted in a 4-0 lead. And although in the following minutes the Latvian slowly made up for the losses, the advantage gained by Fręch was sufficient. Ostapenko could only manage one break, thanks to which the Pole won 6:4.
However, it was clear that the Latvian was slowly gaining rhythm and gaining momentum. She confirmed it in the second set. Even though she made a lot of double faults (five), Fręch did not take advantage of them. She herself had quite a lot of difficulties in the service field. Ostapenko started this game brilliantly, winning the first five games. She couldn't let go of such an advance. She completely dominated the Polish team and won 6:1, leading to the third set.
Not only Świątek. Fręch is another “victim” of Ostapenko
This one started horribly for Fręch, because of a break. And with every passing minute, Ostapenko only got better. Effect? Another pass reception, this time in game number five. The Latvian confidently aimed for victory. And she finally got it. She won this set 6:1 and the entire match 2:1. It was the fifth defeat in a row for our compatriot, and the second defeat for Ostapenko overall.
Magdalena Fręch – Jelena Ostapenko 6:4, 1:6, 1:6
Now before the Fręch Australian Open. This will be an extremely important tournament for the Pole. Last season, she reached the fourth round, causing quite a sensation. So he has a lot of points to defend.