‘Felt Like a Football Match Today’ – 25-Year-Old WTA Star Fires Back at ‘Disrespectful’ Miami Open Crowd for Their Antics Amid Enthralling Encounter

The Miami Open is underway and fans are already excited after witnessing some great players competing against each other. In addition to these stellar performances, the tennis community also saw drama taking place at the Hard Rock Stadium. Jeļena Ostapenko, who won her second-round match, was quite frustrated with the jam-packed crowd that was “disrespecting” her throughout the match.

Notably, the former world No. 5 player had some blunt remarks for the spectators as she fired back at them in her post-match interview. Here’s what exasperated the former French Open champion in Miami Gardens.

Jeļena Ostapenko had a perfect response for the fans who booed her at the Miami Open

In a three-set thriller, the Latvian tennis player prevailed against the Brazilian tennis player Beatriz Haddad Maia. Jeļena Ostapenko, with her usual poise, outshined the former world No. 12, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Now, the former French Open champion marched on to the fourth round of the highly anticipated tournament in Miami Gardens.

However, there was something that bothered Ostapenko, who later criticized the crowd in her post-match speech. The Hard Rock Stadium was jam-packed with mostly Brazilian fans rooting for Haddad Maia. Her opponent, on the other hand, had to face constant jeers from the same group of spectators.

This irked Ostapenko as her exasperations were also evident in her post-match on-court interview. She said, “Yeah, I am really happy to win today. Of course the crowd was mostly against me, a little bit disrespectful, but thanks guys who were supporting me.”

Speaking about it, the former world No. 5 player fired back at the fans by saying that she is still proud of herself despite getting booed. However, Ostapenko also complained that the atmosphere was so loud that she felt like it was a “football match.”

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Notably, she added, “It felt like a football match today”. 

Another similar drama took place at the same tournament involving a Japanese WTA player

This is not the first time when a WTA player complained about getting disrespected at the Hard Rock Stadium. A similar incident happened at the tournament involving a Japanese tennis player, Nao Hibino.

The 28-year-old got irked by her opponent, Martina Trevisan’s team, who she believed had “no respect for players”. Hibino let out her frustrations during her customary post-match handshake with the Italian tennis player.

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What do you think of these recent controversies involving female tennis players at the tournament? Let us know in the comments section.