Wimbledon: 3 Years After Infamous Feud, Jelena Ostapenko Faces Australian Arch-Rival to Avenge Brutal Loss

The Wimbledon draw is out and guess what? We’re all set for a popcorn match between Jelena Ostapenko and Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round of this historic tournament. Talking about history, well, there’s plenty in between these two tennis stars. Flashback to the R32 of Wimbledon 2021, when Australia’s Tomljanovic defeated the 2018 Wimbledon semifinalist, Jelena Ostapenko by 4-6,6-4,6-2. However, more than the result of the match, a series of ‘disgraceful‘ acts surrounding a controversy featuring these two players caught all the attention of the tennis world!

After that incident, Jelena Ostapenko was even heard calling out the Australian tennis star as “the worst player on tour.“ What had actually led to this conclusion? Well, Ostapenko was accused of using a controversial Medical Time Out when she was about to lose the match! During the third set when the score was at 4-0, the Latvian tennis star called for a Medical Time Out. However, she didn’t show any visible signs of injury, leading Ajla Tomljanovic to become absolutely furious and ask her why she was calling for the trainer. Later on, she even raised her voice to the chair umpire stating, “You know she’s lying, right … we all know.“

The Australian urged calling the supervisor, citing a previous example of a similar circumstance in Birmingham where she wasn’t allowed to leave the court. However, the supervisor told her that Jelena Ostapenko was within her rights to get treatment during the changeover. Tomljanovic was surprised to see her opponent leave the court so easily with her trainer. However, the drama didn’t end here as later on she yet again complained about Ostapenko taking too long to get back to the court. Then after some time, she returned, but she failed to win the set and lost the match in three sets.

After the match, Jelena Ostapenko took a jibe at the two-time Quarterfinalist of Wimbledon and said, “Your behavior is terrible, terrible!” Then the Australian came up with a swift reply stating, “You’re the one to talk!” After hearing this Ostapenko said, “You have zero respect, yes?” This thing didn’t seem to be stopping any sooner at the moment. Social media was flooded with mixed reactions, even during the press conference the atmosphere was quite tense!

“In front of everybody, call me a liar?” – Jelena Ostapenko hits back at “very bad player” Ajla Tomljanovic at press conference

During the post-match press conference the Latvian tennis star claimed that even if she was at her 50%, she would have won that match. Speaking on that controversial incident, she asked how can one call someone a “liar” or something when she knows nothing about it. “In my opinion, it was very, very disrespectful from her side. Because every single player who is playing tennis or any other sports can get injured.” She further went on to clarify, “You cannot say that. In front of everybody, call me a liar? I don’t think it’s respectful from her side. So that’s what I said, the very bad player because of this behavior. That’s it.“

While Ajla Tomljanovic replied, “I have played many people. I know when someone is injured and when they’re not. I think it’s disgraceful behavior from someone who’s a slam champion. Because kids look at her and, what, they see that? I’m sorry if she was injured, she could have gone about it in a way better way.” Both of them met each other two times after that. And after their recent meeting at the 2024 AO, Tomljanovic was even heard saying “it’s water under the bridge now” and things have got settled in between them. Share your thoughts on this controversy in the comment box.