Jelena Ostapenko‘s Wimbledon journey came to an end, but there was one moment during her quarterfinal match when she ran out of patience and made a strange request to her coaching team.
Ostapenko was competing in the Wimbledon quarterfinal for the first time since 2018 and was locked in a tight battle against Barbora Krejcikova. She had not dropped a set on her way to the last eight stage but was made to pay for dropping her serve in the third game of the first set.
It was the only crucial break that Krejcikova needed to wrap up the set in half an hour. But Ostapenko had not reached this far to hand the match on a silver platter to her opponent and dug deep in the second set by breaking the crafty Czech for the first time and consolidating for a 4-1 lead.
However, Krejcikova swayed momentum with a break back. Seemingly frustrated, the Latvian sat on her chair during the change of ends at 4-3 and began gesticulating towards her player box, who were bizarrely pointing at each other.
Eventually, it dawned on them that Ostapenko was requesting that one member of the coaching team leave from their seat as she motioned with a flick of her wrist. But confusion enveloped them as they did not know who it was before the 27-year-old’s coach, Stas Khmarsky, left the player box.
The decision did not have a lasting impact despite Ostapenko foiling Krejcikova’s attempt to serve for the match at 5-4. The 2021 French Open champion dominated the ensuing tie-break and sealed the match on her second match point to reach a maiden Wimbledon singles semifinal.
While there is never a dull moment with Ostapenko, especially when things are not going well for her on the court, tennis fans are fond of her reactions.
At this year’s Australian Open, she pulled off a similar move, demanding the entire coaching team leave the arena while playing Ajla Tomljanovic. She won the match in three sets.
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