Wimbledon fan behaviour called out by
Jelena Ostapenko called out the Wimbledon crowd after channeling her anger during a win against home prospect Harriet Dart. The Latvian, who took to court with Tesco branding on her outfit, was booed during her hard-fought victory over Dart, having turned to the crowd after being broken back during the deciding third set. Ostapenko took the opener against her British opponent, only for Dart to take the second 6-3 and bring the score back to 4-4 in the third to leave the former semi-finalist under pressure. The 29-year-old recovered to win the next two games, though, and made her feelings about the crowd crystal clear.
Ostapenko, who confirmed the Tesco partnership was just for this match, suggested there are sometimes more partisan crowds but still voiced frustrations about the SW19 reception. "I think [certain home crowds elsewhere] are a bit more intense probably," she said. "At least today, I mean, there were some points where they were clapping for double faults. I was obviously not happy with that. But, I mean, this is normal, because they are trying to support their local player. I think especially after the first set when Harriet was leading in the second set, I felt like they were into it because they wanted also a third set."
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The world No. 31 also spoke about attempting to channel her anger into positive outcomes on the court. "I feel like I use it in a good way," she added. "I said 'angry,' but in a good way. I try to... transform it into the game."
During the match, BBC commentator Martina Navratilova rejected the suggestion that fans were booing Ostapenko's mistakes specifically, while fellow broadcaster Chris Bradnam suggested she was picking a fight with 12,000 people. "Not a good idea [to rile up the crowd] but I think she's used to that," former champion Navratilova said.
"They're not applauding the fact that she double-faulted, they're applauding that Harriet Dart broke serve and it's back on serve. So these days it's expected but it still gets frustrating."
Ostapenko, who was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2018, recognised there will always be support for a British player regardless of the opposition. However, she joked that the home crowd should support her in the next round.
"I think for me it's, like, I know it's a local player, and this is very normal, they are supporting the local player," she said. "But for me, I think I kind of proved them they are wrong and they should support another, like me, and I just try to prove it with the game.
"But in a good way, not like, you know, as I said, it's very normal they are supporting the local player, but just in a good way. I try to prove, You guys are around next match, you should support me," she added, laughing.
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