‘It’s a tennis match, not football!’ Jelena Ostapenko ATTACKS crowd over disgraceful behaviour in match against Swiatek

‘It’s a tennis match, not football!’ Jelena Ostapenko ATTACKS crowd over disgraceful behaviour in match against Swiatek

The Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships started off with a bang as 5 of the top 10 seeds crashed out in the second round. Among the shocks, a major one was when Iga Swiatek exited the competition at the hands of Jelena Ostapenko. The World No.9 was disappointing in her three-set defeat against the Latvian in a match where the crowd was a bit troublesome to the players.

Ostapenko criticizes the crowd

Jelena Ostapenko
Jelena Ostapenko

Following her match against Iga Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko made her displeasure known when she was asked about the atmosphere and what she made of the fans. The 24-year-old said that she felt that the crowd was nice, but a bit too nice for her liking, and made her disapproval known. She said that the crowd should remember that it’s a tennis match and not a football match.

“I think it’s really nice, the fans there. The Polish people were a little bit not too nice because, like, clapping for double-faults. I don’t think it’s the right way. It’s not a football match, it’s a tennis match at the end,” said Ostapenko.

She further went on to say that no one was clapping when Swiatek was making double faults and errors and attributed it to the Pole having the home support. She reiterated that some people in the crowd didn’t know how to behave appropriately and made her displeasure known.

“When she (Iga Swiatek) was making double-faults, nobody was clapping because people know how to behave. Some of them, of course, they were behaving not the way they should,” added the Latvian.

As the interviewer pressed the Latvian more and asked if this was the kind of crowd reaction that motivates her to perform better, she agreed with the interviewer, further adding that fans should not behave in a tennis match as they would behave on a soccer field.

“Yeah, of course. I really wanted to win. I mean, but in general, I think fans should not behave on a tennis court the same as they’re behaving on a soccer match,” were Ostapenko’s words.

Currently, Ostapenko is through to the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships where she’ll face Simona Halep.

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