Three years on, Ajla Tomljanovic has no regrets about her infamous on-court bust-up with Jelena Ostapenko at Wimbledon.
But Australia’s Wimbledon specialist Tomljanovic reckons the pair are “cool” these days, with nothing but mutual respect as they prepare to do battle again at SW19 in their second grand-slam duel of the year.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Tomljanovic and Ostapenko exchange words after 2021 match.
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The eye-catching first-round meeting, set for Tuesday, raised eyebrows and a few smiles at Friday’s draw as Tomljanovic, on an impressive comeback trail, was drawn against the former French Open champion.
But Tomljanovic, who called out the feisty Latvian for what she believed was a feigned injury back in their 2021 fourth-round clash, didn’t turn a hair.
The only thing the draw stirred in her was the thought it looked a very difficult opening clash.
“We’re cool, I would say,” said Tomljanovic, when asked about her relationship with Ostapenko these days, adamant their argument was now ancient history.
“We had a hit in Birmingham last week for 30 minutes and, look, for me what happened was in the past.”
Thinking back to the episode when Ostapenko took umbrage at Tomljanovic’s accusation that she was lying about an injury and berated the Australian as “the worst player on tour”, the Australian, who won that clash, shrugged she had no regrets.
“Looking back at it after all these years, did I overreact? Maybe. In the moment it felt what I felt, and I don’t in a way regret it.
“But I do think that sometimes in the heat of the battle it’s also good to show emotion. At the end of the day, it’s sports.
“Just showing where our relationship is now, where we’re able to say hello, I do respect her and at the same time, I think maybe it is mutual.
“So it’s just very much in the past, I don’t really think about it at all.
“I’m just excited to play Jelena here. We’ve had some exciting matches whenever we played.
“I do like playing her on grass because it’s going to really make me focus from the beginning.
“It’s giving me a bit of more intensity in practice as well, knowing I’ll be getting really big shots from her side and probably a few short points.
“I’ve already played her a couple times since that match. I’m a different person now, things maybe wouldn’t bother me as much.
“If I go back to that moment, I’d never made it past a fourth round and it was very emotional for me. Now I just look forward to the battle.
“But one hundred per cent, it’s definitely tough. I know from the get go, I have to perform at a really high level.”
Tomljanovic, who’s made a stirring comeback over the past month after being sidelined for long parts of the previous year and a half with injuries, is taking confidence from reaching the final of the Birmingham Classic in Edgbaston last weekend.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe that a run (to a third Wimbledon quarter-final and even beyond) could still be a possibility, but knowing that it might not happen is the beauty of sport,” smiled the 31-year-old.
“You don’t know when it could be your time.”