Home

Tennis

American Tennis Star Takes a Nasty Jab at Jelena Ostapenko Following a Looming Career Update for the Latvian Player

Published 03/17/2023, 3:43 AM EDT

Follow Us

via Reuters

Coco Gauff, the American tennis sensation, must have had big dreams when she entered the Australian Open this year. However, Gauff suffered a disappointing defeat at the hands of the Latvian player Jelena Ostapenko. However, Ostapenko, despite defeating a seeded player like Gauff, has faced a financial block in recent months which has forced her to consider quitting tennis. In light of such developments, a compatriot of Gauff has taken a dig at Ostapenko.

Money is an important part when it comes to playing at the highest level in tennis and players look for sponsors or financial aid from their respective countries’ tennis federations. But for Ostapenko, everything seems to be going wrong at the moment.

Sachia Vickery takes a jab at Jelena Ostapenko

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The Latvian player hit the headlines after defeating the American tennis sensation Coco Gauff at the Australian Open. But fame and money are not the only things that the player got. Currently, she is a world no. 25, making people believe she can grow both career-wise and financially.

via Imago

But, her plans were recently put to a halt when lost the financial aid from her country. Talking about the same, she said, “WTA organizes tournaments & I don’t have the opportunity to play elsewhere. It means I can’t play in any tournament. I have to quit tennis. I won’t do that because I’m a tennis player & this is my sport. Unfortunately, that is the reality.”

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest Tennis stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

She expressed her disappointment over this, but the American player Sachia Vickery had something else to say. However, the former American tennis player Jamie Hampton pointed out the career prize money of Ostapenko and tweeted, someone tell this girl that she’s 25 in the world and has made 12.3 million in her career and half a million this year”.

Replying to this tweet, Sachia Vickery stated in a sarcastic manner, “Seems like she’s hanging on by a thread financially miracle she can keep playing!” 

But how has this come to be? Why did the Latvian government withdraw its financial support?

Solidarity is leading players to suffer

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Since the start the Russian-Ukraine conflict, a lot of athletes from Russia and Belarus have faced sanctions on various fronts. And this time, a similar thing happened with Ostapenko.

Latvia has decided to withdraw financial support from its national athletes who have taken part in events where Russian and Belarusian players have also played. The country’s solidarity with Ukraine has taken a toll on their star player.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

WATCH THIS STORY: Hilarious Meaning of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Serena Williams on Urban Dictionary! 

Once again, the question arises- should a growing tennis player jeopardize her career because of the mixing of politics and sports? Let us know your take in the comments below.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Shivali Sharma

1,438Articles

One take at a time

Shivali Sharma is a tennis author at EssentiallySports. She has pursued her Master's in history from Himachal University, but her love for the game has driven her to write about tennis. Shivali is a huge fan of Naomi Osaka and admires Osaka not only for her on-court performances, but also for her off-court actions.
Show More>

Edited by:

Tony Thomas