The Latvian Jelena Ostapenko continues to advance in the US Open and managed to qualify this Saturday for the round of 16 by beating the American Bernarda Pera 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. However, the hard-fought party was not far from controversy.
Around the end of the third set, a spectator began to distract Ostapenko, who was annoyed by the situation and even indicated the subject with his hands to leave the stadium.
The 2017 Roland Garros champion was serving with a 4-1 lead when the spectator started “screaming like crazy. And not one or two words, but two or three sentences in a row. Of course, the chair umpire told him to shut up. He made the move to get up and leave, so I told him to do it.” said the Latvian in the subsequent press conference.
During the press conference, Ostapenko also made reference to the controversy started a few days ago by Maria Sakkari and Alexander Zverev, who complained of an intense smell of marijuana on court 17 of the complex.
“With grass, it’s normal. I smell it every game. It’s no surprise that other tennis players have complained about it,” she said.
Ostapenko will face the top seed and number 1 on the planet, the Polish Iga Świątek, in the round of 16 of the US Open.
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