If there’s one thing Jelena Ostapenko rarely lets slide, it’s something she believes crosses the line on court. That was the case again during her Wimbledon mixed doubles match, where the Latvian confronted her opponents over their on-court conduct.

The 29-year-old recently punched her ticket to the semifinals alongside her Salvadoran partner Marcelo Arevalo after setting up a clash against German star Laura Siegemund and French Pro Edouard Roger-Vasselin. But the quarterfinal was remembered as much for a tense on-court exchange as for their performance itself.

The on-court controversy exploded in the second set tie-break when the 38-year-old German ace was hit with back-to-back time violations. However, the punishment proved costly in the end. The former doubles world No. 4 was docked a serve and then immediately produced a double fault, which turned the pressure up even more at a crucial stage of the ongoing match.

Clearly frustrated, the German turned straight toward the chair umpire to challenge the call. But she did not stop there. “She bounces the ball 18 times!” Siegemund shouted at Ostapenko.

The atmosphere only got worse from there. The next point went in favor of the Latvian and Marcelo Arevalo, and that only added more fuel to an already tense match.

Then came another flash point at the net. As the four players approached for the usual post-point exchange, the German WTA ace refused to shake Ostapenko’s hand, making it very clear that the tension between them had not cooled down at all.

The discussion later continued near the umpire’s chair, with the German questioning why such a harsh decision had been made at such an important stage of the contest. “On a point like that, maybe a little bit of fingertip feeling, a little bit,” Siegemund added.

But the chair umpire was unmoved by that line of argument. “You know at the Club we don’t have that,” the chair umpire said, to which Siegemund fired back: “With the right players you have it.”

The 42-year-old French Pro Roger-Vasselin also joined the argument and backed his partner. “What do you mean you don’t? Of course you do,” he told the umpire.

Siegemund then turned the focus back to the former WTA world No. 5 and began questioning the Latvian’s own timing between points. However, Ostapenko immediately added, “Just take the loss a bit better, learn how to lose,”.

And even with the match already decided, with Marcelo Arevalo and Jeļena Ostapenko sealing a 6-4, 7-6(9-7) win, the on-court confrontation was far from over by then.

Jelena Ostapenko and Edouard Roger-Vasselin stretched the heated argument even further

The situation was far from over on the court as Roger-Vasselin’s frustration with the umpire kept building. “You did your rule, it’s a terrible rule, and you don’t understand that,” the former two-time doubles Grand Slam winner said to the umpire.

However, on the other side, the Latvian looked completely unfazed and even smiled through the tense exchange. “It’s a very good rule, he did a great job, finally somebody’s not afraid to do that,” Ostapenko added.

The 42-year-old Frenchman looked stunned and replied: “What?” Ostapenko,  Ostapenko, who had recently lost against Aryna Sabalenka in SW19 singles, then doubled down, “Somebody’s not afraid to do that when she’s taking like two minutes between serves, and before the serve. And everyone knows this.”

The 2017 French Open winner went even further, claiming Siegemund is often late with her service, not just in doubles but in singles matches too. “I’m pretty much on time all the time. Sometimes I am not on time, and the chair umpire warns me, and then I try to be faster,” the current world No. 31 added. 

Still upset, Roger-Vasselin immediately argued back, adding, “But he didn’t warn us anytime”. 

In the end, the double fault after time-violation from Siegemund proved massive as she and Edouard Roger-Vasselin fell in the quarterfinals. And while the French-German pair were left furious afterwards, Arevalo and Ostapenko moved into the semifinals to face Christian Harrison and Zhang Shuai.