Ostapenko swaps clay for sand
Former world No. 5 Jelena Ostapenko has found a good way to stay competitive during lockdown by swapping the clay court season for the sand court season.
The 2017 Roland Garros champion took part in the Latvian Beach Tennis Championships – a national event that was going to help determine which Latvian pairs would be put forward to contest the European Beach Tennis Championships, part of the ITF Tour.
Even though the European championships have been cancelled, organisers of the Latvian event still decided to go ahead in order to give their country’s best players the chance to test themselves.
One of those players invited to Jurmala on the last weekend in August was none other than WTA star Ostapenko, who revealed she became aware of beach tennis during the suspension of the tour calendar.
"During the lockdown, I wasn’t able to follow my normal training routine as the courts and gyms were closed, so I looked for alternatives and came across beach tennis again," Ostapenko said.
"I first played it in 2015, and then didn’t really continue with it as my tennis schedule took over my time. With the lockdown, I got some of that time back and started it again. At first it wasn’t easy to play because it’s a bit different to normal tennis and much faster."
Beach tennis provides plenty of additional challenges from a technical point of view, but, as the world No. 43 discovered, it also offers a different kind of fitness - a positive that the Latvian believes she can take back into her tennis.
"Since it’s played in the sand, it’s naturally harder to get around in it with the resistance of the sand," she said. "I felt like I was able to just overall improve my fitness."
Ostapenko wasn’t there just to make up the numbers. She ended up making the semi-finals of the mixed doubles event.
In total, 25 pairs contested the men’s, women’s and mixed categories, with a further 33 pairs playing in Juniors (in under 18 and under 13 age groups).
The semi-final of the women’s event proved to be a thriller, as former beach tennis Top 10 Yulia Chubarova and Anastasija Zalomajeva defeated twin sisters Arina Freimane and Elina Santare 6-3 6-7(6) 16-14.
The men’s final ended with the highest-ranked Latvian beach tennis player Maksimilians Niklass Andersons and Jevgenijs Feldmans clinching the title over Kaspars Daugalis and Sergejvs Ratnikovs 6-1 6-7(4) 10-2.
Beach tennis is growing fast in Latvia, with more than 1,000 players and 550 regularly participating in tournaments. The total number of amateur and professional tournaments held in Latvia in 2019 was 137.
The winners are listed below:
U13[D]:
1st place - Daniils Gaidelis/ Romans Kravcovs
2nd place - Marta Andrejeva/ Anna Andrejeva
3rd place - Davis Mezals/ Tomass Dalderis
U18 [MD]:
1st place - Daniils Gaidelis/Kalvis Spruga
2nd place - Ņikita Gavrilonoks/Maksims Kazancevs
3rd place - Kirils Volgins/Rolan Kazak
U18 [WD]:
1st place - Anastasija Volgina/Aleksandra Kovalova
2nd place - Kamila Kudrjavceva/Darja Ivascuka
3rd place - Marija Klekere/Marija Vetrova
U18 [MXD]:
1st place - Kirils Volgins/Anastasija Volgina
2nd place - Rolan Lazak/Aleksandra Kovalova
3rd place - Daniils Snaiders/Marta Andrejeva
Pro [MXD]:
1st place - Sergejs Ratņikovs/Anastasija Zalomajeva
2nd place - Kaspars Daugulis/Gundega Pastore
3rd place - Ribakovs Ņikita/Jūlija Čubarova
Pro [MD]:
1st place - Maksimilians Niklass Andersons/Jevgenijs Feldmans
2nd place - Kaspars Daugulis/ Sergejs Ratnikovs
3rd place - Nikita Ribakovs/ Krišjānis Stabiņš
Pro [WD]:
1st place - Anastasija Zalomajeva/Julia Chubarova
2nd place - Greta Veinberga/ Natalja Tumsevica
3rd place - Viktorija Stenclava/ Gundega Pastore