Tennis star Jeļena Ostapenko was involved in a spat with umpire Marija Čičak during her round-of-16 match at the Italian Open.
Ostapenko defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals at the WTA 1000 event.
She had a heated exchange with Čičak in the second set, quickly becoming infuriated after the umpire disagreed that Kasatkina’s ball had landed out.
Čičak left her chair to show Ostapenko the ball mark, but the Latvian player laughed and retorted: “It’s like this much out. Half a metre out.”
She then asked for the supervisor to be called, but Čičak explained they could not change her verdict.
Ostapenko, left unhappy with the umpire’s decision, raged: “You will never, ever be at my match again.”
The spectators at the Stadio Nicola Pietrangeli seemed to be unhappy with Ostapenko’s behaviour, resulting in a number of boos and jeers.
Take a look at the incident yourself in the video below.
Jeļena Ostapenko’s controversial moments
Ostapenko is no stranger to controversial moments on court, often riling up the crowd with her actions.
She angered fans at Wimbledon in 2021, for example, after calling for a medical timeout as she trailed 4-0 in the final set against Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović.
The third-round match was delayed by more than 10 minutes as Ostapenko received treatment.
She was then booed by the crowd at Wimbledon last year, following her fourth-round defeat to Germany’s Tatjana Maria.
Ostapenko threw a water bottle at her chair before storming off Court One, later claiming her opponent had been “lucky” to win.
The 25-year-old then compared supporters at this year’s Miami Open to a “football match”, before revealing that she was often spurred on by an antagonistic crowd.
“I’m just really glad I won it because I really wanted to win,” Ostapenko said after beating Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia. “The crowd doesn’t know: if they are against me, I play even better.”
Jeļena Ostapenko continues to impress on clay
Ostapenko, who won the French Open in 2017, will play either Paula Badosa or Karolína Muchová in the quarter-finals.
She is aiming for her sixth title on the WTA Tour, and her first ever WTA 1000 trophy.
Ostapenko has always performed well on clay, but will likely have to get past world number one Iga Świątek to triumph at the Italian Open.
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