Home » The tennis and strategy that made Jelena Ostapenko a teenage Slam winner are revealed.

Jelena Ostapenko, 25, claims that her performance against Emma Raducanu in Stuttgart brought back memories of “the fearless tennis” she played in 2017. In 2017, Ostapenko won a WTA competition in Seoul and her maiden Grand Slam at the French Open. Ostapenko reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal in 2017 as well.

Ostapenko was expected to win numerous Grand Slam championships and rise to the position of world No. 1 at the time. Ostapenko has only reached two Grand Slam quarterfinals and won three WTA titles since that time. Ostapenko humiliated Raducanu on Tuesday, defeating him 6-2, 6-1.

Ostapenko thought back to her tennis matches from last year.

I was somewhat fearless. I wasn’t doing a lot of thinking. Today, I had a tinge of that feeling. I was merely trying to get the images. I was like, “It’s fine, I’ll still go for the shots” even if I missed.

It’s probably necessary to regain this fearlessness, but becoming older makes it harder. According to Ostapenko on the WTA website, “You start to think more, and of course you want to play better and more consistently. Ostapenko appeared to start to scrutinize some things more after a breakout 2017 season, which raised some questions.

Ostapenko, though, performs at her very best when she is assertive and aggressive in her play. “I know that sounds funny, but I felt like I was moving back in my playing years a little bit too much.

What’s working well for me is when I walk onto the court and play fearlessly like at the French Open and attempt to hit winners — of course, not wild, but play a bit wiser — Ostapenko continued. Ostapenko and Raducanu were playing their first game against each other at the same time.

Since Ostapenko and Raducanu were both Grand Slam winners, there was anticipation for the match before it even started. Ostapenko eventually handled the business versus Raducanu on a regular basis.