Well, it turns out I was a bit wrong about that Navarro-Haddad Maia match.
2025 WTA Tour
WTA 500
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix- Stuttgart Open
Porsche Arena, Stuttgart, Germany (Indoor Clay)
Selected Round of 16 Matches- 17th April
Emma Navarro (7) 0.47 vs Jelena Ostapenko 1.65
Well, it turns out I was a bit wrong about that Navarro-Haddad Maia match. Navarro looked utterly unfazed in her maiden Stuttgart match, overcoming her negative head-to-head record with an authoritative 6-3, 6-0 win. Navarro served brilliantly, winning 79% of her first-serve points. She improved to 14-8 for the season and is looking to establish herself as the clay-court threat that her talents warrant. She is an extremely versatile player who looks to find a balance between aggression and strong defense. She mixes her game out well, employing plenty of slice. Crucially, she can generate plenty of topspin on that forehand wing. She was edged out by Anisimova in Charleston but she looks a little more comfortable in these slightly quicker conditions. She already has a title this year (the Merida Open) and she has reached the quarterfinal stage or better in her last three slams. She is a quick learner and appears to be figuring out the idiosyncrasies of clay-court tennis.
This match is complete clash of styles, with the methodical Navarro coming up against the brash, in-your-face aggression of Jelena Ostapenko. The mercurial Latvian isn’t in the greatest form this season, improving to 8-9 after Yastremska withdrew midway through their first-round clash. But- in typical Ostapenko fashion- she has reached a big final this year, going down to Anisimova in the WTA 1000 final in Qatar. Her all-or-nothing hitting style results in big swings of form. She burst onto the scene in 2017, finishing runner-up in Charleston before that incredible triumph at the French Open. One would have thought that she would become a regular clay-court threat: she hasn’t. She hasn’t been able to reach a clay-court final since, finding all of her success on quicker surfaces. She has won just two of her last seven matches and could do with a solid week as she builds towards Roland Garros. She tends to hit the ball quite flat and may thrive in these reasonably quick clay conditions.
The Verdict: Navarro to win in straight sets at 1.06- This will be their first career meeting. I think that Ostapenko’s style will play right into the Latvian’s hands. She can redirect Ostapenko’s power and will force the Latvian into plenty of errors. I also think that Ostapenko will struggle to match the American’s athleticism (especially if she makes liberal use of the drop-shot).
