French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko revealed the unfortunate reality of being a professional athlete in today’s social media climate.
“These great messages that you receive after a very bad day on the court feeling not well (health) wise 🤮🗑️,” Ostapenko, 29, wrote via her Instagram Story on Tuesday, August 4. “I am sure none of you guys have an idea of what professional sports is.”
In another slide, Ostapenko wrote, “This is what [a] professional athlete has to face after almost each loss 🤦♀️🤢.”
The tennis star shared screenshots of an overwhelming amount of vile messages she received following her loss to Shuai Zhang at the 2026 Canadian Open on Tuesday, a match that ended when Ostapenko was forced to retire in the second set due to injury.
“If you skipped a meal or two, maybe you would win a match or two,” one of the messages read.
Another said, “You’re really embarrassing, change sports. How can you play tennis in these conditions? You can’t even run.”
Ostapenko said she also routinely receives “life threatening comments and messages” after losses.
Jelena Ostapenko Courtesy of Jelena Ostapenko/Instagram
The three-time major champ ended things with a message of support from one of her supporters.
“Imagine being a bunch of haters spending your time attacking Jelena Ostapenko after one loss,” the fan wrote. “She’s still a Grand Slam champion competing at the highest level, while most of her critics could only dream of having a career like hers. 💙🎾”
In addition to winning the 2017 French Open in women’s singles, Ostapenko won the 2024 US Open women’s doubles title with partner Lyudmyla Kichenok and the 2026 Wimbledon mixed doubles title with partner Marcelo Arévalo.
Last week, it was revealed that Ostapenko hired Piotr Sierzputowski, who formerly worked with former world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, in the lead-up to the 2026 US Open.
“I don’t have a return ticket from America until after the US Open, and we’re thinking about a long-term partnership,” Sierzputowski, 33, told Poland’s Gazeta.pl in a story published on Thursday, July 30. “I think the most important thing was that Jelena herself called me and presented her vision. That’s what motivated me the most to go, talk, and see if this potential collaboration had a chance.”
He added, “After the phone call with Jelena, I knew immediately that it was the idea of the athlete and her current coach, who is still with the team and will remain with them.”
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