Wimbledon stars’ notorious ‘horrible’ on-court bust up as they face tense rematch

Wimbledon stars Ajla Tomljanovic and Jelena Ostapenko are set for a frosty rematch three years after their bitter on-court row.

Friday’s Wimbledon draw immediately caught the attention of those who could recall a fiery encounter between the two women’s players at the same tournament. Tomljanovic and Ostapenko will meet in the first round at SW19 on Monday, having clashed in their fourth round duel back in 2021.

On that occasion, Tomljanovic called out her Latvian opponent for allegedly feigning an injury in the deciding set while being down 4-0, having lost seven games on the trot. Ostapenko called for a dubious medical time-out, claiming her injury was so severe that she needed immediate treatment, which in turn led Tomljanovic to tell the umpire she was “lying”.

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Ostapenko went off before returning and losing the final set 6-2. The feisty Latvian, however, was unwilling to let the comments slide and unleashed her wrath on the Australian when they shook hands over the net at the end.

World No.13 Ostapenko fumed: “If you think I’m faking it you can go to the physio,” as her rival sarcastically commented: “I hope you feel better.”

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The Latvian then said: “Your behaviour is terrible, terrible. You have zero respect,” leading Tomljanovic to respond: “Honestly, you’re one to talk,” much to the delight of fans in attendance, who cheered and whistled.

Despite fans expecting similar needle ahead of their rematch, Tomljanovic played down the rivalry when asked about their relationship three years on. “We’re cool, I would say,” she said. “We had a hit in Birmingham last week for 30 minutes and, look, for me what happened was in the past.

“Looking back at it after all these years, did I overreact? Maybe. In the moment it felt what I felt, and I don’t in a way regret it. But I do think that sometimes in the heat of battle it’s also good to show emotion. At the end of the day, it’s sports.”

The Aussie revealed they are now able greet each other and that she respects her opponent, adding: “I think maybe it is mutual. So it’s just very much in the past, I don’t really think about it at all.

“I’ve already played her a couple times since that match. I’m a different person now, things maybe wouldn’t bother me as much. If I go back to that moment, I’d never made it past a fourth round and it was very emotional for me. Now I just look forward to the battle.”