WATCH: Furious Ostapenko Forces Loud Fan Out Of Stadium At US Open

| by Nurein Ahmed

Jelena Ostapenko didn't have everything going her way in Friday's third-round match against Bernarda Pera at the 2023 US Open.

Ostensibly the odds-on favorite on paper, the Latvian star dropped the first set 6-4 to American clay-court specialist Pera who threatened to continue the rolling parade of seeds falling at the tournament. But Ostapenko wrestled the momentum in the second set to restore parity.

The former French Open champion then dominated the deciding set, establishing a 4-1 lead, but had a difficult time fighting off break points and an apparent heckler who was interfering for most of the match. The fan was warned at least multiple times by the chair umpire to stop shouting at Ostapenko.

The Latvian finally got her wish as the fan ejected himself out of the stadium taking a few sips from a drinking cup. Ostapenko furiously waved her off the court and the crowd applauded in unison. At that point, Ostapenko held for a 5-1 lead. Despite the left-handed Pera winning the next two games to cut the deficit, Ostapenko broke for the match.

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It was Ostapenko's third straight three-set match win at the tournament and books a fourth-round showdown against Iga Swiatek. The power-hitting woman from Riga leads the head-to-head 3-0 against the defending champion.

Ostapenko spoke of her upcoming match against the World No. 1 but also about the on-court incident of the fan shouting during her serves. She described the atmosphere in New York and in Court 17 as 'special' but in this case, the fan completely went overboard and was doing it on purpose.

"Yeah, I mean, it's a special atmosphere. It's nice here to play. A lot of fans always. I hear my name. Yeah, today there was a little bit crazy situation, yeah, when a fan was shouting during the serves, which he's not supposed to do."

"But, yeah, it happens in tennis, unfortunately, even fans know that you are not allowed to speak during first and second serve, they do this maybe on purpose, I don't know."

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