Ostapenko wins a truly absurd point at Wimbledon

Jelena Ostapenko has won thousands of ostentatious rallies in her illustrious ball-pummelling tennis career, but even she would admit she didn’t mean to win this one.

Ranked No.14 and knocking on the door of her return to the Top 10, Ostapenko has cruised through the first week at Wimbledon to make the second week at a major for the first time this season. With wins over Ajla Tomljanovic, Daria Snigur and Bernarda Pera, the Latvian has dropped just a total of 10 games.

Those scorelines obviously involve an absurd level of skill, but a little bit of luck doesn’t hurt either.

Facing Pera for a spot in the Round of 16 on Saturday, Ostapenko was up 5-1 in the first set when she shanked a forehand return so high in the air that no one knew whether it would clear the net or land in. It did both of those things and Pera covered the ball with what seemed like a standard-issue overhead smash.

But Ostapenko anticipated she would go down the line and was there to pop back a perfectly weighted lob that landed on Pera’s baseline. The American struck a big, flat forehand that would have been a winner against most, but Ostapenko again anticipated the direction and got there in time to slice back and squash forehand that ticked the net and decided to dribble over.

With the crowd screaming in delight, Pera tried to push the forehand down the line but buried it in into the net, much to Ostapenko’s delight.

Watch the full point below:

Ostapenko went on to win 6-1, 6-3 and will next face Yulia Putintseva, who stunned No.1 Iga Swiatek in three sets later in the day. Ostapenko is bidding to make her first Wimbledon quarterfinal since she made the semifinals in 2018.

More Wimbledon hot shots: