Jelena Ostapenko has recently sparked intense discussions about her weight, after appearing in the Australian Open 2023. When she appeared at the tennis tournament, the professional player looked a bit bigger and fat. But what is the truth behind Jelena Ostapenko’s weight gain story?
She has not acknowledged these concerns, so people have begun with their conspiracy theories. Many rumors are swirling around. Some people have even gone as far as saying she might have diabetes because she has been gaining weight steadily for some years.
It is worth noting that she is just in her early 20s. So the diabetes stories look a bit foolish, don’t you think?
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Get To Know Jelena
Jelena, also known as Alona Ostapenko, is a Latvian professional tennis player. She is one of the members of the Latvia Fed Cup team. She has played tennis representing her country, but also internationally.
Born Alona Ostapenko in June 1997, the Latvian player reached her career-high WTA ranking of No.5 in March 2018.
She won the 2017 French Open singles title, becoming the first player from Latvia to win a Grand Slam singles tournament.
Born in Riga to former Ukrainian footballer Jevgenijs Ostapenko and Latvian-Russian tennis coach and former player, Jelena Jakovleva, Jelena has one half-brother, Maksim Ostapenko. He lives in the United States of America.
At the age of five, her mother introduced her to tennis. Since her early days, she idolized Serena Williams. But before she picked up a racket, she started dancing at five years. During that period, she competed in the National Latvian Championships for Ballroom Dancing.
Fast-forward seven years later, and at 12, she decided to focus on tennis. Nowadays, she credits her coordination and skilled footwork to her years of dancing. Jelena speaks Latvian, Russian, and English fluently.
While her legal name is Jelena, her family, and friends know her as Alona. When she was born, her parents wanted to name her Alona. But the name was not on the Latvian name calendar, so she was named Jelena after her mother.
Since then, Latvian authorities have clarified that there have been no restrictions in place that would not allow her to register the desired name and most likely there has been some misunderstanding.
Fans in Latvia and Europe have always called her Alona, but the name was unknown in the West until her win at Roland Garros in 2017. In professional tennis, she uses her legal name Jelena to avoid administrative confusion.
Her debut as a professional came in September 2014, when she made her WTA Tour debut at the Tashkent Open. She was awarded a wildcard for the tournament.
Throughout her career, she has won only one Grand Slam title, the French Open in 2017. Of the other three big events, she has reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, the semifinals at Wimbledon, and only 3rd round at US Open.
In 2016, she made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. Sadly, she lost in the first round to Samantha Stosur.
When Did The Weight Gain Rumors Begin?
Now let’s talk about Ostapenko’s weight gain rumors. These began at the Australian Open 2022 tournament. Her fans were talking about the weight she has gained in the last year.
Usually, athlete players are aware of their weight and fitness. According to some reports, she weighed close to 150 lbs at the 2022 Australian Open. Yet, she was still able to play and perform. She lost in the third round of the tournament.
The rumors reached their peak at the 2023 Australian Open when fans were even concerned about her health status and overall well-being.
Does She Have Diabetes?
People went as far as theorizing that the professional tennis player had type 1 diabetes. Yes, diabetes can cause people to gain weight, but Jelena has never mentioned that she is diabetic.
And she is still only 26 years old as of September 2023. Because of her age, fans argue that her weight gain has to be because of diabetes.
She is not old to be gaining weight with time. According to statistics, younger adults who suffer from type 1 diabetes have a higher likelihood of gaining excess body weight compared to other people.
Fans began speculating, and the tennis player became the subject of rumors. Yet, to this day, she has not made any comments regarding the issue.
Is She Pregnant?
When celebrities and athletes decide not to comment on rumors, the speculations can take a whole lot of ways. Once the diabetes rumor passed, fans found a new one. They began speculating that Jelena is pregnant.
Some fans believed she is pregnant, but the famous tennis player hasn’t commented on it as well. And after all, can you be pregnant and play tennis professionally? Common sense and logic dictate the answer. In the 2023 Australian Open, she reached the quarterfinals, becoming the first Latvian player to reach that stage in Australia.
Learning How To Deal With Pressure
One thing that Jelena has commented on is pressure. And how she deals with it.
In one interview, she said, “I needed some time to get used to it”, speaking of the pressure of busting onto the scene too early.
After all, Jelena became a Grand Slam champion at 19, which affected her mentality. She needed time to deal with the pressure that comes with winning a Grand Slam.
In the same interview, she said, “Honestly, yes, because everybody expected you almost to win every single tournament, which is crazy because you are still a human and you cannot feel great every day. Yeah, I needed some time to get used to it”.
Most of that attention comes from other places, not the court. The famous player said, “Of course, a lot of attention from everywhere outside the court, like photo shoots and all those kinds of things. You become more popular in your country. Everybody is watching you. Of course, it’s great, but I needed some time to get used to it”.
Yet, the Latvian tennis player admitted she never stopped believing in her chances of winning a Grand Slam again. She believes she could beat almost anyone when her game is right.
She said, “My life changed a lot, so I needed a few years to really get used to what happened because I was really young. I was 19 and then turned 20. I always knew and believed in my game. If I play well, I can beat almost anyone. “I was trying to work more on my consistency, especially in the preseason”.
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