Jelena Ostapenko has been involved in a number of controversial incidents throughout her career, with the Latvian star once calling for an umpire to be banned
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko has once again found herself in the headlines during Wimbledon. The 28-year-old has reached the women’s doubles quarter-finals alongside partner Hsieh Su-wei.
Ostapenko recently caused a stir when she was questioned about her outfit by umpire Jamie Crowson ahead of their second round match. In response, an exasperated Ostapenko lifted her skirt to reveal green undershorts, demonstrating compliance with Wimbledon’s updated all-white dress code, which has allowed female competitors to wear dark undershorts since 2023.
However, this isn’t the first time Ostapenko’s on-court conduct has raised eyebrows. Last year, the former Wimbledon semi-finalist had a notable disagreement with another umpire.
During a quarter-final loss to Victoria Azarenka at the 2024 Brisbane International, Ostapenko demanded that umpire Julie Kjnedlie be barred from officiating her future matches. The contentious incident took place when the deciding set in her was evenly poised at 4-4.
Ostapenko was convinced her drop shot had bounced twice after falling the right side of the net. However, the umpire disagreed with Ostapenko, leading the current world No. 21 to berate the official and be labelled a ‘tennis brat’ by fans on social media.
“You are blind,” Ostapenko argued, as reported by Express. “It is impossible to play when you make so much mistakes. I never want you at my match again. You will never be at my match. I don’t want you at my matches, you ruin my matches.”
Despite the heated exchange, Ostapenko still managed a post-match handshake with Azarenka. However, tensions between the two players flared again at the Qatar Open weeks later. Perhaps still smarting from another defeat, Ostapenko’s attempt at sportsmanship with an outstretched racket instead of a handshake left Azarenka less than impressed, prompting her to dismissively wave it away.
The Latvian star has also been at the centre of several controversial moments at Wimbledon. Most notably in 2021, when she was accused of gamesmanship by Ajla Tomljanovic. The claim was made following Ostapenko’s request for a medical timeout when losing 4-0 in the final set.
“I have been in situations where players use that medical timeout to get their opponent off, usually when they are losing badly,” a sceptical Tomljanovic told reporters. “I know when someone is injured and when someone is not. She can say she was injured – I don’t think she was.”
However, Ostapenko hit back at Tomljanovic’s claims. “She cannot say anything because she knows zero about my injury,” Ostapenko insisted. “I thought it was very, very disrespectful from her side, because every single player who is playing tennis or any other sports can get injured.”
The following year, the former French Open winner faced a hostile crowd at SW19 when she was booed off the court after a fourth-round defeat to Tatjana Maria. The crowd reaction camera after she threw a water bottle at her chair.
Tennis legend Caroline Wozniacki shared her own experience of sharing a court with Ostapenko during the 2023 Australian Open. While on commentary duty for her win over Coco Gauff, Wozniacki said: “Let’s just say I practiced with her once and chose not to do so again.”
Despite a singles defeat to Britain’s Sonay Kartal and an early exit in the mixed doubles, Ostapenko remains in contention for the women’s doubles crown at Wimbledon. With a history of success in doubles, including reaching three Grand Slam finals and securing the US Open title last year, the 28-year-old is a formidable force on the court.
However, controversy followed Ostapenko at the Abu Dhabi Open in February, where an opponent labelled her ” disrespectful” after a quarter-final match. Partnering with Ellen Perez, Ostapenko faced Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez and was accused of interrupting their attempt to switch ends.
Following a tense exchange with Ostapenko, Babos took to Instagram to vent her frustrations with a cryptic post-match message. “Some players are just sooo fake and disrespectful,” she wrote. “I don’t care how good they are or how well they hit the ball; they just have to have respect and manners.”
Ostapenko will hope to leave Wimbledon with another Grand Slam title this month. Along with Hsieh, Ostapenko is gearing up for their Wimbledon women’s doubles quarter-final clash against Sorana Cirstea and Anna Kalinskaya this Tuesday.