Angelique Kerber scored the biggest win of her comeback from maternity leave in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open, coming from a set and a break down to upset No.10 seed Jelena Ostapenko 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in 2 hours and 13 minutes.

The former World No.1 notched her first Top 10 win since the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup Finals, where she defeated Barbora Krejcikova in the group stage. The result also marks the first time she has won consecutive matches since reaching the third round of Wimbledon 2022, her last tournament prior to maternity leave.

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Kerber, who is ranked No.607, is the lowest-ranked player to beat a Top 10 player since the unranked Olivia Gadecki knocked out Sofia Kenin 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 in the second round of the 2021 Phillip Island Trophy. The lowest-ranked prior to that had been Sloane Stephens, who defeated none other than Kerber 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of Toronto 2017. Stephens was playing the third tournament of her return from an 11-month injury layoff, and would go on to win the US Open four weeks later. Kerber is playing the fourth tournament of her comeback in Indian Wells this week.

Kerber improves to 3-1 overall against Ostapenko, having previously defeated the Latvian at Wimbledon 2018 and Rome 2021. She advances to face No.17 seed Veronika Kudermetova.

Highlights: Vondrousova d. Pera | Putintseva d. Alexandrova

Elsewhere, Wimbledon champion and No.7 seed Marketa Vondrousova needed just 64 minutes to roll past qualifier Bernarda Pera 6-0, 6-2; and Yulia Putintseva scored her first Top 20 win of the year after coming from 5-2 down in the first set, saving two set points, to upset No.15 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 6-1.

Twists and turns: Neither Kerber nor Ostapenko are strangers to a rollercoaster contest, and this match did not disappoint on that front. In the first set alone, Ostapenko led 3-1; then lost four straight games to go down 5-3; then saved two set points on her serve before reeling off the next six games to take a 2-0 lead in the second set.

The 2017 Roland Garros champion, who has won a tour-leading two titles in 2024 so far (joint with Elena Rybakina), was pounding her usual share of ferocious winners. In the first set, six aces and seven break points saved out of nine faced also illustrated her ability to play the most important points well.

But a pair of loose backhands beckoned Kerber back into the match, and the German gritted through a sequence of three deuce games to gradually turn momentum in her favor. By the end of the set, Ostapenko's form had dipped again, and she conceded the set with consecutive double faults.

Four straight service breaks set the scene for a tightly-contested decider in which there was nothing between the pair through the first six games. Kerber combatted Ostapenko's pace with full commitment to first-strike tennis of her own, and was able to anticipate and redirect the Latvian's most powerful shots.

At 4-3, Kerber grabbed the crucial break thanks to another pair of errant Ostapenko backhands. Despite another two breathtaking winners from Ostapenko to save the first two match points, Kerber converted her fourth with an unreturned serve to seal victory.

Kerber on her motivation as a mother: "This question I heard a lot, why I'm back and what gives me the motivation. For me, the biggest motivation is the love for the sport. I love to compete; being out there today as well, having this crowd, having the emotions, this gives me everything.

"Now, having my daughter on my side, it's even more inspiring for me to have her, and there's something bigger than tennis as well, which I learned. And it's not tennis anymore, it's her. And having the combination of doing something I love and having her on my side, this is the most inspiration for me.

"This is the biggest motivation as well for me to coming back; to having this fight, to practicing a lot, to working a lot and dealing with all the stuff.

"But yeah, I love the sport, the competing. I will try to do it as long as possible. I think my heart will tell me when it's over, but I don't know when."