Watch out, the new Seles can play grass too!
THERE is a slight facial resemblance, and a definite likeness in the force they impart on a tennis ball. Has the game found a new version of Monica Seles?
It was hard not to think of the legendary former champion when seeing Jelena Ostapenko win the French Open on Saturday, and her joyful reaction afterwards.
Whoever she brings to mind, there seems a good chance that tennis has unearthed a new star in the Latvian, just turned 20, who fearlessly bludgeoned her way to an unlikely title at the expense of favourite Simona Halep.
Seles was never at her most comfortable at Wimbledon, but that does not apply to Ostapenko, whose ranking will now soar from 47 to No 12.
Saturday’s winner of a gripping final won the junior event at the All England Club in 2014 so, unlike some clay experts, the grass will hold no terrors for her.
‘I really love Wimbledon. It is a nice place and the grass fits me so I am really looking forward to playing this year,’ she said.
‘The first year I did not understand how to play on grass. I didn’t really like it. Then year-by-year I liked it more and more because I understood how to play on it.’
She plans to play lead-in events at Birmingham and Eastbourne, although will first return home to Latvia to a hero’s reception.
Her coach, former tour player Anabel Medina- Garrigues, was bullish about her prospects at SW19, although she will need to adapt to her new status.
‘What I think is that if she keeps doing what she is doing and keeps the same focus she can be very dangerous there, very dangerous with those shots,’ said the Spaniard. ‘She really likes the feel of grass.
‘When she won Wimbledon juniors, she was saying, “I love to play on grass, it’s my favourite surface”. She will believe in herself that she can play well there.’
Darren Cahill, Halep’s seasoned Australian coach who had to sit through the disappointment of his player missing out on the world No 1 spot as well, spoke starkly about Ostapenko’s sheer force of shot.
‘When she’s hot, you don’t touch the ball, you become a spectator,’ he said. ‘It’s tough to know where to put the ball.
‘If you get her on the angles she can knock the ball down the line for a winner, if you hit the ball down the middle of the court then she can open it up pretty well. So you have to just hang in there and hope she misses enough balls.’