Williams defeats French Open champ Ostapenko

Singapore Oct 25 (IANS) American star tennis player Venus Williams defeated French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 in a White Group match at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals here.

The 37-year-old Williams needed three hours and 13 minutes on Tuesday to beat the 20-year-old Ostapenko who is playing in her first WTA Finals reports Efe.

"I don t know if there was any luck for me tonight -- I just had to work for every point " Williams said.

Both players struggled with their service games with Williams overcoming 10 double-faults and Ostapenko 13.

On Thursday Williams will play Spain s Garbiñe Muguruza who lost on Tuesday 2-6 2-6 to the Czech Republic s Karolina Pliskova who is leading the White Group.

Williams (1-1) and Ostapenko (0-2) both remain alive in the White Group but Williams has the easier road to the year-end tournament s knockout stage.

--IANS
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