The Australian Open has suffered a big casualty in just the second round, with a former Grand Slam champion exiting the event.
However, this has been a tournament marked by a distinct lack of upsets, with the favourites winning more often than not in the opening two rounds.
It therefore makes this high-profile exit even more notable, particularly given this player’s penchant for early exits at big events.
As recently as 2017, they were lifting the French Open title, tipped to do huge things on the WTA Tour.
It’s fair to say that Jelena Ostapenko has failed to live up to the hype, as she crashed out of the Australian Open with a whimper.
Grand Slam champion loses early in Australian Open again
Having been drawn against Rebecca Šramková in the first round, the Latvian did well to navigate a tricky opening match by winning in straight sets.
However, she was not so clinical in the second round, where she saw her one-set lead over the world number 43, Wang Xinyu, dissolve into a questionable loss.
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These types of collapses have become frustratingly common for Ostapenko, who has yet to reach the fourth round of any of her last six entries into Grand Slam tournaments.
Naturally, the match was then marred by the 28-year-old’s comments towards her box, who bore the brunt of her frustration as she slowly slumped out of the Australian Open.
Having reached the quarter-finals of this event in 2023, she has never made it past the third round on any of her other nine attempts.
Ostapenko did retire injured from a pre-Australian Open tournament, but injury seemed to play no part in today’s defeat.
Jelena Ostapenko’s last five Grand Slam performances
It’s frustrating to see a player of Ostapenko’s talents crash out so early again, but this has become worryingly expected of her of late.
After all, her last five Grand Slam performances across 2025 and now the start of 2026 showcase a worrying pattern.
Last year, the former world number five kickstarted her campaign with a first-round loss in Melbourne.
She then backed that up by reaching the third round of the French Open, and was well beaten by Elena Rybakina.
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Wimbledon marked another huge disappointment, defeated by Sonay Kartal in the very first round, before concluding an underwhelming year by losing to Taylor Townsend in a controversial second-round match at the US Open.
Ostapenko’s comments about Townsend after the match drew huge scrutiny.
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