Martina: Watch out for fearless Ostapenko
dient for the world ing other than an al. und – who reached d last year – said: he year is so long elf sometimes. r body is what you in, you’ll probably f performance. re I have to take er. I am not going to application of Andy Murray has a regular guest at iami home for mmon sense t o he planet but it is s Cup winner Dan ban after testing il. Edmund ahead of face qualifier Alex MARTINA NAVRATILOVA has singled out Jelena Ostapenko as a dangerous outsider at this year’s Wimbledon.
The Latvian had just turned 20 last month when she became the first unseeded player to lift the French Open since 1933 with victory over Simona Halep.
Now Ostapenko, junior champion in SW19 three years ago, arrives at the All England Club ranked 14th in the world.
Nine-time Wimbledon winner Navratilova is a huge fan of the fearless 5ft 9ins star who lights up arenas with a power-packed game and massive smiles in equal measure.
After witnessing her sensational victory in Paris, Navratilova said: “You cannot win Grand Slams playing carefully and playing not to lose.
“If you have that champion mentality, you do not have to dip your toes into the water – you can jump right in and swim with the best of them.
“Jelena has shown she has that champion mentality.
“It’s a bit early for her to win Wimbledon but, certainly, she has to be one of the favourites now.
“And that game will transfer very well on to the grass.”
Ostapenko’s forehand at the French Open was consistently faster than that of men’s world No.1 Andy Murray.
And her willingness to go for broke was breathtaking en route to her debut Grand Slam success – her first title anywhere on the WTA tour.
Ostapenko blitzed no fewer than 299 winners in the fortnight, including 68 in a gripping three-set final victory over shell-shocked Romanian third seed Halep.
Navratilova, 60, added: “I’ve always said good offence beats good defence, and great offence beats great defence.
“It’s about finding the right time to go for her big shots. Sometimes she goes for it a little too early.
“But she is 20. She’ll learn to play points better.
“A big improvement can be made on her serve. When she gets that going, watch out – because she has all the goods.
“She has a good team around her. Her mother has done a great job bringing her up as a young woman and a tennis player. I’m pretty confident they can handle it.
“The biggest thing will be to say, ‘no’ because everyone will want a piece of her.”
The 13th seed will face Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in the first round.