Jelena Ostapenko, in her own words – the Latvian speaks on getting her Slam mojo back, arguing with Hawk-Eye and more

Thanks to her Adelaide title Jelena Ostapenko has surged back into the Top 10 for the first time since 2018. In Melbourne she talked to Sasa Ozmo about getting her Grand Slam mojo back, as well as a variety of other topics.

Jelena Ostapenko at Eastbourne 2023 Image Credit: Action Plus / Panoramic

Sasa Ozmo

January 15, 2024

On Monday, Jelena Ostapenko found herself in the Top 10 for the first time since 2018. It has been a long road back for the 2017 Roland-Garros champion, but the 26-year-old from Riga never lost faith in her abilities.

Ahead of this year’s Australian Open, Ostapenko captured her 7th WTA title defeating Sorana Cirstea, Caroline Garcia, Marta Kostyuk, Ekaterina Aleksandrova and Daria Kasatkina along the way, reminding the field and pundits alike that when she is playing well, she can be almost impossible to stop.

Speaking to Tennis Majors during her title run in Adelaide, Ostapenko confessed that she’s working on dealing with negative emotions on the court, talked about changes she would love to make in tennis, her superstitions, hardships of being a touring tennis player and many other things.

Two Grand Slam quarterfinals last year, I am sure you still think about your French Open title in 2017. What would it take for you to improve, to have a shot at another Slam title?

It sounds funny, but in general I feel I have to be more aggressive and more free, in a good way. I need to be fearless, the same way I was in Paris that year – I was just hitting winners, I didn’t care if I missed a ball, I just kept going for it. I’ve started 2024 in a positive manner, but I feel I need to go more for my shots when I need to, that’s what brings me success.

During the preseason, have you done anything differently, what have you worked on the most?

I was at home. It was winter time, so it was not easy, but honestly, for me it’s very important to do the preseason at home. If I go somewhere else, that means I’m never home and my first thought at the next tournament would be “I want to be at home”, which is not a good mentality to play matches with. I was doing a lot of fitness, a lot of running, together with my coach. And tennis of course, as usual.

Mentally, how do you handle negativity and keep yourself on the right track over the course of a match?

It’s not easy, because I’m very emotional, especially on court. It’s not that I want to be that emotional, but I get so mad with myself when I miss or when I lose an important point. Sometimes it’s not good for me, I feel like I should support myself more, forget about that point and move on to the next, but sometimes it’s overwhelming and it’s affecting me a bit. I am working on that.

Speaking about you being emotional, have you seen videos of yourself “arguing” with the Hawk-Eye? Do you laugh when you see it?

Ha-ha! I mean – yes, but honestly, as I already mentioned in the past, everybody trusts the Hawk-Eye system fully, but I think it makes mistakes.

Jelena Ostapenko (Lat) posant avec le trophee du vainqueur

If you could change two rules in tennis, what would you change?

Back to Hawk-Eye obviously, I would go back to tennis without Hawk-Eye live system. I would like to have the line umpires back, because I feel like the court is empty without them. It creates a better atmosphere, more people – without them, it looks empty even at Slams. Also, it would be nice for people to have more jobs.

And if you had a magic wand, what would be one thing that you would change about your game?

Maybe to have volleys like Martina Navratilova, that would make my life so much easier!

Have you got any superstitions before you play a match?

Yes. Sometimes it gets crazy, like going to the same restaurant, but I try to get rid of it, because it can drive you insane to eat at the same place at Slams, for one and a half or two weeks. You get sick of that food. I have some more small things – doing my routine in the same order, which is also crazy, I feel that I should mix it up because it gets boring after a while.

It sounds funny, but in general I feel I have to be more aggressive and more free, in a good way. I need to be fearless, the same way I was in Paris
— Jelena Ostapenko

If you could play doubles with anybody from the tennis past, who would it be?

Probably Martina Navratilova. She has been such an amazing player, she has won so many Slams and she is a lefty, which is particularly good for doubles, haha. I didn’t get a chance to play with her, but I talked with her and she is a very nice person.

If you could turn back the clock and play one match all over again to change the outcome, which match would that be?

Wimbledon semi finals in 2018 against Kerber. I was in really good form, but she played an amazing match. She has beaten Serena in the finals, which shows that she was at the peak of her abilities. I was still young and I feel like I was rushing a bit too much back then. If I could play that match again, I would take my time.

You’ve mentioned earlier how much you miss being home. That’s probably the most difficult part about being a tennis player. Apart from that, what’s another aspect of a tennis career that you find difficult?

Honestly, I hate packing bags, I get sick of it. Just traveling, being in different time zones, it can get so uncomfortable and the season is so long. You go home for a few days, then from Australia to Doha or Dubai, then to the USA, to Europe, to the USA again, then Asia. This time, I needed a week to get used to the time zone in Australia. I feel like it’s too much. When someone in my spare time tells me to fly, to go somewhere for a few days, I’m like ‘I am not going anywhere, I just want to stay home.’ We don’t have much time to rest and recharge.

Those are the hardships, but there are many benefits of being a tennis player as well. You get to know different cultures and see places all over the world… What else do you like about being a tennis player?

You don’t necessarily see a lot of things, because you’re on the court practicing, and then you’re tired, so you just want to relax in your room or take a little walk. At the end of the day, it happens frequently that you don’t see that much of a city you’re in. For me, I just like to play tournaments, I love the atmosphere of people watching. Especially when I’m winning, the adrenaline is flowing, but it’s not easy to be a tennis player – people from the outside think it’s amazing, but they see only one side, not the other I’ve just talked about. It’s not easy being on the road all the time since you’re 10,11,12 years old.

You hate packing, but you’re also very well-known for the clothes you wear on the court, it’s your friend’s from Latvia (DK One). Do you help with the design or…

Sometimes we design something together, but my friend follows fashion a lot, so she offers me a few options and then we choose, we decide whether it looks good or not etc.

I am not going to ask you about the favorites for the Australian Open on the women’s side, but who do you think will win on the men’s side?

If Novak is healthy, I think he has a good chance to win again. He’s a really good player, it’s just crazy how consistent he is. I feel Novak is a good pick, but we’ll see – people always say that men’s tennis is more consistent, but sometimes things are less consistent than in women’s tennis, the results being up and down.

Thanks to Branka Bauk for her help in writing this article.

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