Jelena Ostapenko defeated Simona Halep in the 2017 final, after which she failed to reach the second week at Roland Garros.
The world of tennis is talking about a real curse that has hit the player Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia, ranked 11 in the world. The 26-year-old has a Grand Slam title under her belt, at Roland-Garros in 2017, but that performance was followed by an endless series of premature failures in Paris.
Jelena Ostapenko achieved a miracle in the final with Simona Halep from Roland Garros
Seven years ago, Ostapenko managed the miracle of defeating Halep in the final, score 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, after the Romanian led 1-0 in the sets and 3-0 in the second. However, no one would have expected that, subsequently, “Penko” would never pass the third round, as it happened in this year’s edition.
At Roland-Garros 2024, Jelena was named seed 9, and in the first round she overcame the Romanian Jaqueline Cristian (6-4, 7-5). In the next round, the Latvian surprisingly bowed out against Denmark’s Clara Tauson (72 WTA), who prevailed 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, this being one of the biggest surprises of the inaugural rounds at Roland-Garros, including the Romanian Sorana Cîrstea being on the list of seeds eliminated prematurely.
After the final with Simona Halep, Jelena Ostapenko never got past the 3rd round at Roland Garros
Basically, Ostapenko revisited the nightmare scenario of her last six appearances at Roland-Garros. After lifting the trophy following the final with Simona Halep, Jelena was eliminated three times in the inaugural round, three more times in the second round and once in the third round. If we include the elimination in the first round of 2016, it becomes clear that the fabulous course of 2017 is nothing but an exception.
Jelena Ostapenko was defeated at Roland-Garros by established opponents, such as Victoria Azarenka, Paula Badosa, Sofia Kenin or Alize Cornet, but unexpectedly succumbed to rivals who were within her reach, such as the Ukrainian Baindl (formerly Kozlova) or American Stearns.
In this regard, Ostapenko also has a negative record in her CV. Thus, between 2016 and 2019 she was the only player in the world who had won a Grand Slam (French Open 2017), but she had lost all the other matches she had played in Paris in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
This curse that hit Ostapenko after the victory with Simona Halep in 2017 is only a confirmation of the fact that the Baltic player does not feel well on the clay. As a result, of the eight trophies she has in her WTA record, the one in Paris seven years ago is the only one contested on clay.
Simona Halep got revenge against Jelena Ostapenko for the lost final at Roland Garros
As for the direct confrontations between Halep and Ostapenko, the Romanian took revenge for the failure in the final at Roland Garros. A few months later, Halep defeated Ostapenko in the semi-finals in Beijing, decisively 6-2, 6-4. Later, the Latvian won one more match, in 2022 in Dubai, leading 2-1 overall.
If Simona Halep, who in 2024 did not receive the wild card she wanted at Roland Garros, later managed to get her hands on two Grand Slam tournaments, Roland-Garros 2018 and Wimbledon 2019, Ostapenko was left with the joy since 2017, the Latvian player has also reached a semifinal at Wimbledon and two quarters at the Australian Open and the US Open.
