Rivalry in Tennis is a common subject and John McEnroe even asserted that it is much needed in WTA for players like Iga Swiatek to blossom even more. ‘The Big 3’ rivalry, McEnroe and Jimmy Connors rivalry, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Gaff rivalry are a few of the most famous in tennis history. Except for McEnroe and Connors, other players maintain cordial relationships off the court. Nadal-Federer and Navratilova-Evert even expressed their bonding publicly, and they revealed that they remain best friends off the court irrespective of the on-court competition. But some friendships do not last long and the bond between Sorana Cirstea-Jelena Ostapenko is the perfect example.

The friendship between Cirstea and Ostapenko was once the talk of the town, but now their cold hand contact (definitely not a shake) at the Wimbledon Championships gave way to a different narrative.

The doubles and vacation partners are now just colleagues

The Twitter account of ‘Romanian Tennis’ posted the statements of Cirstea on Ostapenko, which were crisp and followed a no-nonsense approach. Speaking of their equation, the Romanian said, “I would like to let me clarify this matter. We are colleagues, we are not good friends that go out to dinner or tell each other confidence.”

The thirty-three-year-old’s statement is in contrast to the past events the duo enjoyed together. They vacationed together and the thirty-seventh seed even visited the Latvian player in her home, in Riga. Ostapenko welcomed her to the home by sharing an Instagram story. But those are all bygones in the past. Cirstea stuck to a formal appreciation of her opponent and cleared the air around them.

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The Quarter-finalist of the 2009 French Open said, “We are simply colleagues. Ostapenko is an extraordinarily good player, much better than she appears at first glance. She has great hands, she’s very aggressive. All the matches were difficult for me.”?The duo faced each other thrice and Ostapenko won them all. On the grass, the recent match is their first in which Cirstea triumphed. She shared what it takes for her to defeat the Latvian champion.

What made Sorana Cirstea overpower Jelena Ostapenko?

The Romanian focused on playing smart as she admitted that she cannot display aggressive play like Ostapenko. Cirstea told ‘Eurosport,’ “I’ve never played against her on grass. In the last match, I took a set, so I have progressed and I will do my best to focus on what concerns me and play smart, together with the coach. It’s difficult to be more aggressive than her, so I’ll have to win this match with intelligence.”

Cirstea stuck to her word and defeated her former friend, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4. Ostapenko defeated Greet Minnen in straight sets, 1-6, 2-6 but could not withstand the smart play of her former doubles partner.

The thirty-three-year-old will face Beatriz Haddad Maia, whose rank is better than hers. But Cirstea has won more matches against her on clay and hard courts. This is their first-ever grass encounter. Who do you think will proceed to the next round?

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