Jelena Ostapenko is no stranger to controversy, and the Latvian was at it again during her third-round women’s doubles outing at the 2026 US Open partnering Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan. The match ended on a sour note, as Ostapenko roared loudly in the direction of the team members of her one of her opponents to celebrate her win, with the moment subsequently leading to a handshake snub.
On Monday, September 7, Ostapenko and Hsieh, the No. 4 seeds in the women’s doubles draw, clashed against Chan Hao-ching of Taiwan and Maya Joint of Australia, the pair that eliminated Venus and Serena Williams in the first round.
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Tensions between the two doubles pairs started after Chan’s team began provoking Ostapenko and Hsieh in Chinese, which led to the Latvian demanding for a Chinese-speaking tournament staff member to interpret the provocative words. After beating Chan and Joint 6-4, 6-4, Ostapenko let out wild roars in her Taiwanese opponent’s team’s direction. Chan, clearly irked, shook hands with the Latvian but refused to shake compatriot Hsieh’s hand.
Watch the moment below:
Up next for Jelena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei at the 2026 US Open is a quarterfinal showdown against No. 8 seeds Elise Mertens and Diana Shnaider.
Jelena Ostapenko gunning for second US Open doubles title triumph; Latvian tasted women’s doubles glory in New York in 2024 with Ukrainian star
At the 2024 US Open, Jelena Ostapenko, partnering Ukrainian doubles specialist Lyudmyla Kichenok, conquered the women’s doubles category in emphatic fashion. The Latvian and the Ukrainian did not drop a single set on their way to the title, which they won after defeating Kristina Mladenovic of France and Zhang Shuai of China 6-4, 6-3. The triumph marked the first time a Latvian tennis player won a major doubles title.
Ostapenko proved her doubles credentials again at this year’s Wimbledon Championships, where she won the mixed doubles title partnering Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador. However, despite the Latvian’s high-flying doubles fortunes, her singles form spanning recent tournaments has been poor.
In the buildup to the 2026 US Open, Ostapenko, a former World No. 5 in singles and the 2017 Roland Garros champion, suffered losses to former doubles partner Zhang in Toronto (walkover) and Magdalena Frech in Cincinnati. Her fortunes in singles did not improve after her New York arrival, as she was bundled out of the category in the very first round by 39-year-old German veteran Tatjana Maria.
Edited by Sudipto Pati
