As a number of American players appeared to receive preferential treatment on Tuesday, tennis fans and analysts are questioning the fairness of the US Open schedule (local time). Jelena Ostapenko voiced her displeasure with the schedule of her quarterfinal match with Coco Gauff, complaining that she was forced to play in stifling heat in the middle of the day despite the fact that her victory against Iga Swiatek two nights prior ended after midnight.
Following her victory over World No. 1 Swiatek, the Latvian was destroyed 6-0 6-2 by Gauff in a dismal performance. Ostapenko asserted that she was informed by the organizers that her match against Gauff would take place at night on Tuesday at her post-match press conference.
She commented: “Today was not really good match from me.I think it’s really hard to recover from those night matches, because after beating World No. 1, I went to sleep at like 5 in the morning. You sleep for, I don’t know, maybe like seven, eight hours, but you completely don’t recover. Yesterday the whole day I felt very low energy. I thought today I was going to wake up and feel better. But honestly, I didn’t really feel much better. I think it’s a little bit crazy.”
Jelena Ostapenko was told that her match with Coco Gauff at US Open would be a night session:
“When I asked the day before, I was pretty sure I’d play a night session bc that’s what they told me. When the schedule came out, I saw I was playing 1st match. I was like ‘Wow. That’s… pic.twitter.com/U0vdVugJMN
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 5, 2023
Jelena Ostapenko in 2023
Ranked world no.21, Jelena played her last match on the 5th of September when she capitulated to world no.6 Cori Gauff 6-0 6-2 in the quarter of the U.S. Open (draw).
This year the Latvian has achieved a composed 32-17 win-loss record. Jelena has won 1 title in Birmingham.
Gauff at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2023
Ranked no.6, Coco owns a composed 43-13 win-loss record in 2023. The American is now competing at the U.S. Open where she ousted the world no.121 Laura Siegemund 3-6 6-2 6-4, the world no.63 Mirra Andreeva 6-3 6-2, the world no.32 Elise Mertens 3-6 6-3 6-0, the world no.623 Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 3-6 6-1 and the world no.21 Jelena Ostapenko 6-0 6-2.
Coco Gauff will face the world no.10 Karolina Muchova in the semifinal on Thursday at 7:00 pm on ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM. Their head to head is 1-0 for Gauff.
The American has won 3 titles in 2023 in Auckland, Washington and Cincinnati.
The American won 5 titles in her career: 3 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 1 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)
Jelena Ostapenko and Coco Gauff fought against each other 3 times. Their record is 2-1 for Gauff. Previously, the last time they competed against each other, Coco Gauff won 6-0 6-2 in the quarter in New York (U.S. Open) on the 5th of September 2023.
In the video below you can watch the highlights.
