Bartoli on Ostapenko: "Everyone is afraid to play against her"
Marion Bartoli has been advising Jelena Ostapenko since 2019. After the Latvian's triumph in Dubai, Bartoli became enthusiastic.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Feb 20, 2022, 09:10 pm
Sofia Kenin, Iga Swiatek, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep: Jelena Ostapenko defeated four Grand Slam winners in a row on her way to the title at the WTA Tour 500 tournament in Dubai. The smooth final triumph against Veronika Kudermetova was almost easy. For Ostapenko it was the fifth championship of her career, the greatest success after that at the French Open 2017.
Marion Bartoli, who has been advising Ostapenko since 2019 and working as a part-time coach, was also impressed by the series in Dubai. "It was an incredible week," Bartoli said after the end of the tournament. "She's played great since the beginning of the year, except for the first tournament in Sydney. But it's never easy for her to find her rhythm after preparation because she plays very aggressively. So she always needs a few matches. But this week you could see in the first game against Kenin that she hits the ball extremely clean.
Bartoli only as a part-time coach
That was not always so. “When I started working with Alyona, she was number 90 in the world. She had really lost a lot of confidence. She had high expectations of herself, and there were also those from the outside. It was difficult for her to cope with everything.” Bartoli herself celebrated her only triumph at a Grand Slam tournament in 2013, in the Wimbledon final against Sabine Lisicki. After that, the French ended her career.
Why Marion Bartoli can identify with Jelena Ostapenko? "My playing style was quite similar to hers, that's why I understand her game so well. I played with almost the same style: Very aggressive on the return of serves, immediately going for the winner on the second serve.”
Since Bartoli, as a young mother, cannot be on tour with Ostapenko all the time, the two mainly see each other before the Grand Slam tournaments. Then it's all about fine tuning. Bartoli knows one thing for sure: "I think all players are afraid of playing against them. But it was time to get them back on track.”