WATCH: Jelena Ostapenko hits her opponent in face during Australian Open match

Jelena Ostapenko, known for splitting opinion, was involved in another controversial moment at the 2026 Australian Open, even though the incident did not seem deliberate.

Ostapenko has endured a rough patch of form in singles since winning April's 2025 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, a run that included victories against Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, consistently the WTA's Top Two players.

That difficult period continued with a second-round loss against Xinyu Wang. However, the Latvian has been more successful in doubles since April. Her achievements with Hsieh Su-wei include reaching the 2025 Wimbledon final.

Ostapenko's quest for a second women's doubles Grand Slam title and first since the 2024 US Open continued at the Australian Open, where she and Su-wei defeated 2020 Australian Open women's singles champion Sofia Kenin and Laura Siegemund.

The result wasn't the most notable moment of that match, though. Despite Ostapenko and Su-wei being 6-3, 5-1, 15-30 up and cruising, the 2017 French Open women's singles champion managed to cause controversy.

What occurred can be watched in a video at the end of this article. Ostapenko, who has never been shy about targeting opponents' bodies at the net in singles or doubles matches, had an exchange with Siegemund in close proximity.

The 28-year-old hit a backhand near Siegemund that would have been good enough to win the point against most opponents. Siegemund, one of the best volleyers in women's tennis, showed impressive reflexes and got it back over the net.

Ostapenko instinctively reacted with a powerful backhand drive volley that was straight in the German's reaction. Siegemund put her hands up as an attempted defense mechanism, but could not act fast enough and got hit in the face.

Initially, Ostapenko's apology for the incident seemed quite casual, even though it was immediate, and somewhat played into the stereotype of her deliberately taking steps to irritate opponents on the court for any benefit.

However, the Latvian followed it with another apology when Siegemund was at the baseline getting ready to serve, which was acknowledged. The 37-year-old deserves credit for not blowing the incident out of proportion.

Emotions often run high during matches, and the 2026 Australian Open has been no exception. Naomi Osaka had some unexpected tension with Sorana Cirstea during their second-round encounter a few days ago.

Cirstea, who played in her final Australian Open, was angered by Osaka hyping herself up between the Romanian's first and second serves. It is generally considered good etiquette for returners or crowd members not to speak before a second serve.

Osaka, who seemed surprised by Cirstea's annoyance, immediately mentioned it in her on-court post-match interview. The four-time Grand Slam champion subsequently apologized, saying she regretted seeming disrespectful by discussing their conversation about the incident.

What happened to Karolina Muchova was an entirely different kind of unexpected. The Czech lost an important moment against Alycia Parks because she celebrated too early. Fortunately, it did not cost the 2024 French Open runner-up, and she defeated Parks after a tight match.