Jelena Ostapenko has won her opening two matches at the Qatar Open (Image: GETTY)
Jelena Ostapenko stared down a Hawk-Eye camera during her victory over Liudmila Samsonova at the Qatar Open on Tuesday. The Latvian was in fine form in the Middle East as she won the showdown in straight sets.
Ostapenko alongside Hsieh Su-wei in January after exiting the ladies’ singles at the first-round stage.
And she is chasing silverware in Doha this week after already knocking out Aoi Ito and Samsonova to reach the last-16.
Ostapenko has made it clear in the past that she is no fan of Hawk-Eye. The 27-year-old also admitted a couple of years ago that she was unable to trust the electronic line system at the , where the same Hawk-Eye cameras are used.
And on Tuesday, the blockbuster star walked right up to a Hawk-Eye camera at the side of the court and stared directly into it.
She then whispered into the camera as if she was attempting to encourage it to behave itself.
The match proved to be a close affair, with Ostapenko ultimately coming out on the right side of a 7-6, 7-5 scoreline.
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Jelena Ostapenko stared down a Hawk-Eye camera during her Qatar Open clash with Liudmila Samsonova (Image: TENNIS CHANNEL)
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During an interview with at the start of last year, Ostapenko was asked about her proclivity to argue with Hawk-Eye during matches. And she explained: “Honestly, as I already mentioned in the past, everybody trusts the Hawk-Eye system fully, but I think it makes mistakes.”
And after being asked what rules she would change in tennis, she added: “Back to Hawk-Eye obviously – I would go back to tennis without Hawk-Eye live system.
“I would like to have the line umpires back because I feel like the court is empty without them. It creates a better atmosphere, more people. Without them it looks empty even at Slams. Also, it would be nice for people to have more jobs.”
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Ostapenko, who won the French Open singles title in 2017, was also asked about whether she had faith in the electronic line system following her victory over in 2023. And she replied: “In the system? To be honest, no.”
She then added: “Honestly, this live electronic system, I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like it makes some mistakes.
“Of course, we have to play. Sometimes I look at my team because I know I’m wrong, but I feel like some balls are pretty close, so I want to know what they think about the call.”