THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 3, 2022

Jelena Ostapenko

Press Conference

T. MARIA/J. Ostapenko

5-7, 7-5, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Your initial thoughts on today's match.

JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, I mean, I thought it was like my match I had to win it and she got just so lucky in some moments so she could come back. I felt I was the player who had to win this match today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. So you feel like it's an opportunity missed in this tournament to go deep? Is that your emotions right now?

JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, of course I'm really disappointed, because I felt like I was like playing way better than she was. Of course it's strange to say it when you lose a match, but in general I felt like I was missing a little bit here and a little bit there.

She got lucky, she framed it, put the ball on the line. Then the chair umpire did a huge mistake on 5-All in the third set when it was breakpoint on my serve and I had no challenges left. People who watched the match, they texted me that it was quite big out.

All those small things together, they come and you can lose such a match. Of course I'm really disappointed because if I lost against an amazing player who just beat me in a great match, but I just lost my match. I just made mistakes. She just collected all my mistakes, unforced errors, and that's how she won today.

Q. That decision, do you feel like that affected your game when it happened at 5-All?

JELENA OSTAPENKO: I felt a little bit, because I missed that ball, but I knew it was going out, I saw it was going out. It was one of the most important balls maybe, because if I won that game, the whole match could turn the other way.

Q. What did you tell yourself after she saved two match balls?

JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, as I said, she was so lucky, because one of them, I just missed by 10, 15 centimeters, forehand return on 30-40. And the whole match she was like hitting those slices. I was just missing the ball. Like she didn't really do anything today. She was just waiting on my mistakes.

I also spoke to some ex-players and my coach, and the ball this year is bouncing much lower than the other years. So it was an advantage for her.

I think I will never lose again the same match. I will just be stronger next time to not lose against such a player.

Q. You must have heard the reaction of the crowd when you walked off after you threw the bottle at the chair. Do you regret how you reacted?

JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, it's always annoying to lose such a match, especially when you know you were a better player and you were a favorite in this match. So of course I had emotion. I'm a human, and it's normal. I'm not going to like let it go and say, It's fine, I lost, and it's fine.

No, it's not fine. Obviously I'm an emotional player. I hate losing, as I said before, because I'm such a competitive person.

So I think it's normal. I mean, of course maybe I shouldn't have done this, but it's easy to say from the outside, when you are not on my place, it's easy to judge.

Q. I know it's a cliché question, are there positives you can take on to the hard court season from the way you have played on the grass this last month?

JELENA OSTAPENKO: Probably, but as I said, I'm really disappointed on this loss, because I felt the draw was very wide open. I felt like I was really playing well in Eastbourne and here.

Today, as I said, just some small things turned not my way. Maybe not my day, but I was missing by a little bit. But, yeah, in general I think of course can take something positive and I will just come back stronger.

I'm still young so I have still time. It's not like the last tournament I'm playing and I'm like 35 years old and I cannot play again. But I still have a lot of time to play, so I will just try to, how you say, do like analyze the match and just come back stronger.