So, what’s in a name? Well, plenty for Jelena – er, Alona – Ostapenko
What is Ostapenko’s first name? The French Open champion made it clear yesterday, and it’s not what most people think.
The 20-year-old Latvian, listed by the WTA as Jelena Ostapenko, has frequently been called Alona during Wimbledon. That has caused a slight amount of confusion around the All England Club.
After reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a victory over Elina Svitolina, Ostapenko said her family and friends have always called her Alona, referring to that as her “real” name. Her legal name, though, is Jelena, which is how she had been introduced until yesterday.
“When we were warming up, the chair umpire didn’t say Jelena. She said Alona,” Ostapenko said. “That was, like, surprise about that. People were cheering for me and saying Alona today,” Ostapenko said. “That was nice.”
HAWK MAN COMETH You wouldn’t look twice at Chris Fava during the Edinburgh Festival – men in smocks made of feathers and yellow tights are loitering in every High Street close – but he certainly stands out amid the jacket-and-tie tyranny at Wimbledon.
Fava is a 41-year-old tennis nut from New Jersey where he works as a creative director and he’s been adopting a theme for his visits to SW19 for a while now. “Last year I was Strawberry Man, in 2015 I was Mr Sunshine, in 2014 I was Flower Boy and the year before that Bluesky Guy. My lycra one-piece was challenging on a hot day, as is this.”
His Hawk Man persona is completed by a leather balaclava which Chris painted in the official Wimbledon livery of purple and green and does indeed look far too tight. But he was so pleased at being able to source the perfect headgear for his costume – “I’d like to think it belonged to one of your old bomber heroes, before America won you the war” – that he was grinning and wearing it yesterday.
“I dream up these outfits as a reaction against the formality of Wimbledon but it’s not meant to be disrespectful, just a bit of fun,” Chris said, as he fluttered off in the direction of Andy Murray’s match. “I saw him play in Los Angeles 15 years ago when he was a back-boarder with big hair and honestly I said to myself: “That kid is going to win Slams one day.’”