“When I stop playing tennis, I will not come back”: Jelena Ostapenko opens up about her plans to start a family, Iga Swiatek secret & more (Exclusive)
The name Jelena Ostapenko needs no introduction. She’s widely regarded for her on-court exploits, including becoming the first-ever Latvian Grand Slam champion at the 2017 French Open and she continues to be the only name in that list.
Ostapenko most recently competed for the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles at the 2025 Australian Open. Her singles and mixed doubles duties ended quickly, as she lost to Swiss Belinda Bencic in the first round and, alongside Joe Salisbury, failed against the duo of Erin Routeliffe and Michael Venus in the mixed opener.
The Latvian, however, produced a brilliant run in the doubles. She partnered up with Hsieh Su-Wei and ended up as a finalist, losing to top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in the title clash.
On the sidelines of the Melbourne Major, Ostapenko sat down with Sportskeeda for a chat and reflected on her life on and off the court, also addressing her impressive 4-0 head-to-head record against Iga Swiatek.
Jelena Ostapenko: Sometimes yes and sometimes no, to be honest, because there’s a thing I like to play matches and compete. I’m a very competitive person but I do hate traveling to be honest. Because I’m doing that since 10-12 years old so I don’t like to stay in the hotel and always like pack my bags, come home for a few days and travel again. And most of the travel are like long ones so when you do that for more than 15 years, you get a bit tired but I just like tennis as a game. I like to compete but yeah, I wish like we could play the same like in other sports, in the same time or place.