'You have zero respect!' – Emma Raducanu's next opponent in heated Wimbledon row
Ajla Tomljanovic was involved in a heated row with Jelena Ostapenko at Wimbledon on Saturday after beating the Latvian 4-6 6-4 6-2 to set up a fourth-round clash with British teenage sensation Emma Raducanu.
The two players bickered at the net following the match, with Tomljanovic having accused Ostapenko of lying about an injury in the third set in order to try to regroup her thoughts after two quick breaks.
Despite Ostapenko taking a hard-fought first set, tempers started to fray in the second when she was unhappy with a point being replayed, accusing umpire Fiona Edwards of not knowing the rules.
After Tomljanovic took the second set, Ostapenko then quickly found herself two breaks down in the deciding third set and asked for an injury timeout while her opponent was serving to deal with an abdominal problem, with the umpire calling for a physio to come to Court 15.
But her Australian opponent was livid, making it clear in no uncertain terms that she thought Ostapenko was faking the problem and simply looking for a breather as she tried to arrest her slide.
‘You know she’s lying, right? We all know,’ said a livid Tomljanovic to umpire Edwards during the break in play.
‘Can you call the supervisor as well [as the physio]? You know you can also make your own call and your own view on this situation.
‘She can say whatever she wants. Are you taking any consideration that she looked fine for an hour and 30 and now there’s an “acute” injury.’
At this point Tomljanovic was asked to sit down by the umpire, but she refused. ‘I’m not sitting down,’ she responded furiously. Ostapenko did get her injury timeout, however, and the match eventually resumed after she was allowed to briefly leave the court.
It did not last much longer though, with Ostapenko broken for a third time on match point, and that is when things got really heated out on court.
Rather than going immediately to her opponent to shake hands, which is customary, Tomljanovic celebrated her victory and left a seething Ostapenko waiting at the net while she waved to the crowd.
When they finally shook hands, the Latvian unloaded on her opponent over her earlier remarks about her injury timeout, saying: ‘If you think that I’m faking you can talk to the physio.’
But Tomljanovic had no time for her comments, saying very sarcastically: ‘I hope you feel better.’
That wound up Ostapenko even more, who hit back: ‘Your behaviour is terrible, you have zero respect.’ The 24-year-old has a bit of a reputation on the tour and that prompted another little dig from her opponent, who replied: ‘You’re one to talk. Honestly, you’re the one to talk.’
The umpire tried to cool the mood and both players separated, though Ostapenko was still fuming, muttering, ‘What?! If I have an injury? So bad. So bad, so bad.’ She then promptly grabbed her bags and racket and stormed off the court.
Ostapenko was still livid at her press conference afterwards, saying: ‘First of all, she cannot say anything because she knows zero about my injury. She doesn’t know anything, first of all.
‘And second of all, in my opinion it was very, very disrespectful from her side, because every single player who is playing tennis or any other sports can get injured. So she cannot say anything unless she knows anything from the physios or from the doctor.’
Next up, Tomljanovic will take on 18-year-old British wildcard Raducanu, who stunned veteran Sorana Cirstea on Saturday to book her place in the second week of Wimbledon.
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