Jelena Ostapenko on the brink: Five-year ranking low threatens her French Open draw

Jelena Ostapenko has had her French Open preparations hit hard by an early exit at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she was the defending champion.

Ostapenko, who lifted the trophy in Stuttgart last year, crashed out in the first round this time after a three-set loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova. The match lasted just under two hours, with Alexandrova sealing a 6-4 5-7 6-3 victory.

The defeat comes just a few weeks before the French Open gets underway on May 26. It marks a tough start to Ostapenko’s clay-court campaign as she prepares for Roland Garros.

Jelena Ostapenko set for lowest ranking in three years after Stuttgart loss

Ostapenko entered the WTA 500 event ranked 22nd in the world, but with a deep field in Stuttgart, she wasn’t among the seeds.

That set up a tough first-round match against sixth seed Mirra Andreeva, who was coming off a title win last week in Linz – her fifth on the tour.

Even though Ostapenko was the lower-ranked player, she looked strong early and built a 7-5, 2-6, 4-1 lead over Andreeva.

But things started to slip from there. Ostapenko dropped five straight games to lose her opening round match in Stuttgart.

The loss means she’ll drop 499 points from her ranking and currently sits at world number four in the live WTA rankings.

This will be Ostapenko’s lowest ranking since June 2021, and there’s a chance she could slide even further depending on the results from others this week.

Iga Swiatek could be affected by Jelena Ostapenko’s ranking fall

With another 130 points to defend before Roland Garros, Ostapenko is unlikely to be seeded inside the top 32.

And if that happens, Ostapenko could draw any player in the opening round, including world number one Iga Swiatek.

Swiatek has four French Open titles to her name but has never beaten Ostapenko. It’s a surprising statistic, considering the way Swiatek has dominated clay over recent years.

Ostapenko leads their head-to-head 6-0, with her most recent win coming in last year’s Stuttgart title run.

That said, Ostapenko hasn’t advanced past the third round at Roland Garros in any of her eight appearances since winning the title in 2017.

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