Champ Ostapenko’sWimbledon target

JELENA Ostapenko is confident she can take the attention in her stride as she targets more grand slam success at Wimbledon.

The 20-year-old produced one of the most remarkable tennis stories in recent years by becoming the first unseeded player in the Open era to win the French Open title.

Having arrived in Paris as the little-known world number 47 from Latvia, Ostapenko leaves as the world number 12 and with her career earnings almost tripled.

The final against Simona Halep was shown on a big screen in the centre of Riga and Ostapenko can expect plenty of fuss when she makes a brief trip back today.

“I think when I go back home there will be a lot of attention and this is really nice because I made history for my country,” said said.

“Of course now I probably will have more pressure but I’m going to try to deal with that. I think it’s going to be a little bit difficult but I chose to be a tennis player, that’s my career, so I should be fine with that.”

Next on the agenda for Ostapenko is the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, although it is a sign of just what an outsider she was that she is not yet even in the field.

With the rankings cut-off several weeks ago, Ostapenko is currently still one out, although a wild card will surely be made available for her if she wants it.

Ostapenko has more pedigree on grass than clay having won the Wimbledon junior title three years ago and rates the surface as her favourite. It was not always like that. Recalling her first experience of grass aged 15, Ostapenko said: “When I first played on it I didn’t like it at all.

“I didn’t really understand how to play on grass and I was like, ‘How can people play on grass? It’s made for soccer’.

“But in the next couple of years I understood how to play, how to move and then I really liked it. Wimbledon is in three weeks and I’m feeling quite confident now so I’m really looking forward to playing there.”