The third round match of the Miami Open that featured Jelena Ostapenko versus Jasmine Paolini was always set up to be an entertaining one. The two players offered clashing styles as well as completely different personalities. Paolini is seemingly always smiling and fan-friendly. Ostapenko is feisty and doesn't mind riling the crowd.
And make no mistake that the crowd was firmly behind Paolini during the match. After the Italian somehow bounced from side to side of her side of the court chasing down shots from the Latvian and was able to steal a break point, she won the first set 7-5. The audience roared with approval.
Ostapenko, though, put her index fingers in each ear to block the noise. Either that, or she was simply telling tennis fans to be quiet. Each could be argued to be an option.
Jelena Ostapenko overcomes Jasmine Paolini in the third round of the 2026 Miami Open
Ostapenko was just starting to tick up in form, however. She got a break in the first game of the second set and raced through the set the rest of the way, evening the match at 6-2. She was hitting shots of brutal bombast that even the lightning-quick Paolini could not reach. The Latvian was playing some of her best tennis of the year.
As she walked off the court at the end of the second set, Ostapenko egged on the crowd, asking for the same approval to her set victory that Paolini had received from her first set win. The crowd wasn't quite as uproarious in their enthusiasm.
The third set began even worse for the No. 7 player on the WTA tour. Paolini fell behind 4-0. She wasn't playing exceedingly poorly, but Jelena Ostapenko was simply far too powerful and not missing from either wing. She was also overpowering on her serve with nine aces.
Through pure moxie and athleticism, though, Jasmine Paolini was able to stunningly battle back to 4-5, forcing Ostapenko to hold under great duress to try to win the match. She couldn't. Two hours and 19 minutes into the match, it was even at 5-all in the third set, and the Italian seemingly had all the momentum.
Like everything with this match, however, what one saw was not always true. Ostapenko broke in the next game to lead 6-5, absolutely deflating the fans watching. Finally, in a match of high-end and brilliant skill, Ostapenko's power was too much for Paolini's speed, and the Latvian held to take the third set 7-5.
She will next face the winner of the Elina Svitolina versus Hailey Baptiste match in the round of 16. That should make for another wonderful watch for tennis fans, no matter who is involved on both sides of the net.