Former players Brad Gilbert and Pam Shriver call out Jelena Ostapenko's return tactics against Eugenie Bouchard in Guadalajara
Jelena Ostapenko booked her spot in the Round of 16 at the WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara with a hard-fought win over Eugenie Bouchard, but not before embroiling herself in controversy.
In the deciding set of her 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 win over the Canadian, Ostapenko won her first service game and then had a break point on Bouchard's serve. Bouchard's first serve, served to the ad side, went out of bounds, putting her in danger of being broken very early.
With the all-important second serve about to come, the Latvian decided to move towards the net and close the gap on the serve, assuming that it would be a slower serve she could pounce on easily. A series of rapid steps from the former French Open champion created a sort of squeaky noise, as a result of her shoes making contact with the hardcourt surface.
Although Bouchard did not give any signs that she was distracted by the noise, her second serve also missed the mark, handing her opponent a 2-0 lead.
Former WTA player Pam Shriver, best known for her 22 Grand Slam doubles titles and an International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee, took to Twitter to post a video of the incident, wondering if it could be used as an appeal to the umpire as a possible hindrance.
"Could this be appealed to umpire as hindrance?" Shriver tweeted.
Could this be appealed to umpire as hinderance? https://t.co/zz0jry5bxV
Former ATP player and tennis coach Brad Gilbert, who most notably coached Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and Andy Murray among others, agreed that it was grounds to appeal as an intentional hindrance, tweeting:
"It definitely should be."
It definitely should be twitter.com/phshriver/stat…
Jelena Ostapenko takes on Veronika Kudermetova in the third round in Guadalajara
Following her win over Eugenie Bouchard, Jelena Ostapenko will lock horns with eighth seed Veronika Kudermetova in the third round of the WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara. Kudermetova scored a straight-sets win over recent San Diego Open finalist Donna Vekic to set up a meeting with the 12th seed.
The duo have faced off only once in the past, in the final of the 2022 Dubai Open, which went in favor of Ostapenko. A victory against Kudermetova would pit the Latvian against either 14th seed Danielle Collins or 4th seed Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals.
Seventh seed Daria Kasatkina is the likely semifinal opponent, while third seed Jessica Pegula has emerged as the favorite to reach the summit clash from the top half of the draw following the exit of top seed Paula Badosa.