The news has been out that Latvia cut off financial support to Latvian athletes who compete in the same tournaments as Russian and Belarusian players and Jelena Ostapenko is among those affected by the punishment. We reached out to the Grand Slam champion herself at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open and she confirmed to Women’s Tennis Blog that Latvian sports authorities have reached out to her about new policies terminating the support.
The world No.25 said, “Of course they have reached out, but honestly there is really nothing to do because I’m not organizing tournaments. The WTA is the one who is organizing tournaments and I don’t have any opportunities to play in any other tournaments.”
Currently, there are six Russians and Belarusians in the WTA Top 25, putting Ostapenko in an impossible position. Referring to the reported policies, she said “It means if I don’t play any other tournaments, I have to quit tennis. But I’m not gonna do that because I’m a tennis player and this is my sport. I mean, unfortunately, it’s like that.”
Ostapenko made these comments after defeating Belarusian world No.44 Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-5 3-6 6-2. The victory was particularly impressive considering a severe ear infection made her consider withdrawing from the match before it even…
