Ostapenko on Upward Trajectory as Clay Season Gains Momentum 

Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko holds the winner's trophy following the women's singles final tennis match of the WTA tour, in Stuttgart, Germany, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)
Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko holds the winner's trophy following the women's singles final tennis match of the WTA tour, in Stuttgart, Germany, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)
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Ostapenko on Upward Trajectory as Clay Season Gains Momentum 

Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko holds the winner's trophy following the women's singles final tennis match of the WTA tour, in Stuttgart, Germany, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)
Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko holds the winner's trophy following the women's singles final tennis match of the WTA tour, in Stuttgart, Germany, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Jelena Ostapenko is starting to show shades of the form that saw her crowned French Open champion eight years ago with the Latvian knocking over the top two players in the world en route to winning the Stuttgart Open title on Monday.

Ostapenko became the first woman to beat the world number one and number two in the same claycourt event since Serena Williams at Madrid in 2012 by beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final and Iga Swiatek in the quarters.

Her ninth tour-level title, and just her second on clay, lifted Ostapenko six places in the world rankings to 18th, marking her out as a dark horse ahead of Roland Garros, which begins on May 25.

"Honestly, I didn't tell anyone, but I felt confident since the first day. I had a strange feeling in a good way," she told reporters in Stuttgart.

"When I came here, I felt like something's going to happen this week. I pretty much felt that I can win this tournament.

"I think I'm improving day by day and I'm playing better and better. I think I deserve it."

Ostapenko, who also beat Swiatek on the way to the Doha final in February before losing to Amanda Anisimova, has failed to reach a Grand Slam final since her Roland Garros breakthrough in 2017.

However, she said playing without the burden of expectation had worked wonders for her this season.

"I had enough pressure in my career," Ostapenko told the WTA website. "I didn't feel it even though it was the final. In my mind, I was just playing a match."

Ostapenko will be in action in Madrid this week and is also dreaming of another deep run in Paris.

"Obviously I can play well on this surface," she added.

"I will take it match by match, but anything can happen."



Liverpool Teammates Gather in Portugal for Jota Funeral

People wait next to flowers to enter at a church where the bodies of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and André Silva have been brought for a wake and funeral in Gondomar, near Porto, Portugal, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
People wait next to flowers to enter at a church where the bodies of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and André Silva have been brought for a wake and funeral in Gondomar, near Porto, Portugal, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Liverpool Teammates Gather in Portugal for Jota Funeral

People wait next to flowers to enter at a church where the bodies of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and André Silva have been brought for a wake and funeral in Gondomar, near Porto, Portugal, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
People wait next to flowers to enter at a church where the bodies of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and André Silva have been brought for a wake and funeral in Gondomar, near Porto, Portugal, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Liverpool players were gathering in the small Portuguese town of Gondomar on Saturday for the funeral of their English Premier League soccer teammate Diogo Jota, who died with his younger brother in a car crash in Spain on Thursday.

Club captain Virgil Van Dijk, goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and manager Arne Slot were among teammates past and present who arrived in Portugal late on Friday to pay their respects to the striker and his brother, Andre Silva.

They are expected to join the grieving family and hundreds of residents of Gondomar, a small town in northern Portugal where Jota grew up, for the funeral at the Igreja Matriz church, Reuters said.

Rute Cardoso, who married Jota just weeks ago, is expected to be accompanied by the couple's three young children.

Jota's death at the age of 28 sent shock waves through the world of football and beyond, with messages of condolences pouring in from national leaders as well as across the sport.

The brothers were believed to have been driving to a ferry in Spain to travel to Britain when their Lamborghini veered off the road and burst into flames after midnight on Thursday. Police said they suspected a tire had burst.