Jelena Ostapenko analysed things that went wrong in a dismal showing in quarter-final defeat to Coco Gauff at the US Open.
Ostapenko appeared to put herself in contention as one of the names to potentially win the title this fortnight, but one of her most significant victories against Iga Swiatek, was followed by an erratic showing against America's Coco Gauff.
The Latvian has often built a reputation for not being the most gracious of losers in defeat, but at the same time she shares exactly how she feels about the way a losing effort escalates. This was no different when she discussed her abrupt US Open exit.
"Yeah, today was not really a good match from me. It is really hard to recover from those night matches, because after beating World No.1, I went to sleep at, like, 5:00 in the morning, and still, you sleep for, I don't know, maybe seven, eight hours. Yesterday the whole day I felt very low energy."
When given the floor as to how she felt Coco Gauff played and how the American made things challenging for her, the Latvian did not create that much praise, and focused more so on the way that she played on the day.
"Honestly I was expecting a little bit more from her today. I felt like she had a little bit, like, a lot of pressure because obviously to play at home is not easy, as I experienced it before myself. Honestly there were so many games where I had chances, and I missed some, really, as I think, easy balls, and I think my concentration was not there comparing to the matches I've played."
"I think she was also very nervous today. I mean, still, the score is what it is. But there were so many deuce games, advantage, deuce, advantage, that I could really win. Of course I am disappointed about today, because I really feel I didn't play even half of what I played the whole tournament."
Interestingly, Ostapenko was questioned as to whether she had a game ready-made to win a second major and perhaps more. Ostapenko's biggest issue is preventing herself from blowing hot and cold from one match to the next. Despite this, she feels she is ready to win big again.
"I believe I can win another Grand Slam. As I said, I didn't have much time to recover, and yeah, in general I have to be happy with the week and with few weeks and just move forward."
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