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Jelena Ostapenko has arrived in Indian Wells for the 2023 BNP Paribas Open. The Latvian has brought her pet dog, Balenciaga, along with her. The World No. 25 was spotted practicing with her pet dog and World No. 28 Anastasia Potapova at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Ostapenko is no stranger to traveling with her dogs. Her older dog, Juljeta, has been spotted in the player's box several times, including at the 2017 Roland Garros.
Balenciaga was present at the 2022 Western & Southern Open, where the Latvian posed with her at the presentation ceremony. In the post-match conference, Ostapenko had called the dog her ‘anti-stress’ after the match.
“She's such an amazing dog and she's so calm. She's been behaving unbelievable all week. I'm really lucky to have such an amazing dog.” the 2022 Western & Southern Open doubles champion had said in an interview with WTA.
It seems Balenciaga has traveled to Indian Wells as well. Ostapenko and Potapova were recorded playing fetch with the dog during their training session.
Potapova posted a video of herself throwing a tennis ball for the dog to fetch on her Instagram story. She captioned it “Our entertainment today” and tagged Ostapenko in it. The Latvian also shared the story on her own account.
The video entertained their fans on Twitter, where one account reposted it.
“hard at work training,” they captioned it.
Watch the video clip below.
“When I play someone I dislike, I want to beat her” - Jelena Ostapenko on playing against someone she does not like
Jelena Ostapenko has admitted that she "really wants to beat" her opponent when she doesn’t like them. The 25-year-old is always open about her feelings and therefore isn’t very popular on the WTA Tour.
"When I play someone I don’t like, I really want to beat her.” the Latvian told CLAY Tenis magazine.
“For the players can work in different ways If you don’t like someone and It’s like your 'enemy' some might get distracted, emotional, and get annoyed very quickly. I’m the kind of person that gets even more focused in that kind of situation," Ostapenko added.
The 25-year-old also admitted that she doesn’t waste energy on what others think about her. Once on the court, she tries to focus on herself and not get distracted by what is happening around her.
Jelena Ostapenko returns to action at Indian Wells, beginning on March 6.
