Occult Forecasts and Cult Favorites
Jelena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei tell Bounces what's in the cards for a new pair of queens.
MELBOURNE, Australia — As I was walking from my desk in the Australian Open media workroom toward the interview building on Thursday afternoon, I heard an announcement come over the loud speakers like none I’d ever heard at any tournament ever before:
“Attention media: If you would like to know more about what’s in store for you in 2025, there are still additional time slots open with our tarot card reader until 5 p.m.”
I stopped in my tracks, then turned back to ask the woman at the media services desk who had just made the announcement to confirm: had she actually just said what I thought I’d just heard?
Indeed, she had.
It was a lot of information to process all at once, and it raised questions I had never thought I’d be pondering at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. What might the future hold for me? Could this fortune teller really even see what was ahead somehow? And why did the Australian Open organizers think this oddball offering was something that overworked journalists would take them up on in the busy first week of a major?
Ultimately, alas, I decided to pass on this intriguing opportunity. I’m already plenty excited for what 2025 might have in store for me, personally and professionally. And just in case this tarot card reader knew what she was doing, I don’t really want spoilers, good or bad.
Though I decided not to open up the portal to the paranormal, I was still bewitched by the outside-the-box thinking that even led to the Australian Open making the supernatural so available for me. Someone working for Tennis Australia—I don’t know whom—had the crazy idea of bringing a tarot card reader to the Australian Open media center and followed through on it. I was confounded, sure, but in a way I could only admire.
In that same spirit, I decided today’s Bounces feature from a busy Day 5 chock full o’ second round singles matches would be similarly unexpected.
One of the best things so far about covering a Grand Slam event for my own space for the first time is that I don’t have to get anyone else’s approval for each day’s idea. Even if something would likely seem trivial or unimportant to an editor, I only have to convince myself to publish it here.
And you readers can tell me differently if you disagree, but I think it’s worked out really well so far. I’ve been especially struck by how my most obscure idea so far—Destanee Aiava choosing to wear tennis outfits from years back during her qualifying matches—has gained global traction as a story during this tournament, in a dream run that finally ended in the second round in a yellow dress that Maria Sharapova wore during the 2011 French Open dress.
I first shared the story with my beloved Bounces subscribers last week, who now number a few thousand (and are growing every day, thank you!) A week after breaking that story angle here, Aiava’s stylings were written up in Vogue. Vogue also shared a slideshow of Aiava’s throwback looks and the originals to Vogue’s more than 50 million followers on Instagram.
All of this preamble is to say: I believe in trusting my instincts right now, and that’s why I bring you this interview with a new doubles pairing who just notched their first win together on Thursday.
I don’t think this one is likely to be picked up by Vogue any time soon, but I think I got this one right. Or at least when I posted a teaser photo for today’s bit of fan service on my BlueSky account, folks seemed suitably excited.
So without further ado, here is my conversation for Bounces with a pair of cult favorites for women’s tennis fans: Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko.
Perfectly Mismatched
Hsieh, who flicks her racquet like a wand, and Ostapenko, who swings hers like a hammer, have both become fan-favorites for their unconventional play, and for the unique figures they both carve in the tennis world as non-conformists.
After a loss in their first time pairing up last week in Adelaide, Hsieh and Ostapenko won 7-5, 6-2 in their Australian Open first round match Thursday against Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls.
Mihalikova told Bounces it was jarring playing two players with such different styles.
“It’s actually really difficult,” Mihalikova said, “because Su-wei is a very, very tricky player, and Ostapenko plays super-fast; I think one of the faster hitters on the tour. Same on the serves…it’s really difficult, because you get totally different balls, every single point.”
Hsieh is a 39-year-old who has won nine major doubles titles, including both women’s and mixed doubles here at the Australian Open last year. Ostapenko, 27, has also played doubles throughout her career, which was launched into notoriety by a shock singles title at the 2017 French Open.
The transcript of this interview will be free for everyone here, but below the paywall I will also share the audio file of the interview, which I think is really the best format for enjoying these two personalities—especially Hsieh, whose quirks I don’t think the written word has yet figured out how to do justice.
Also for subscribers below the paywall, there will be info on a giveaway I’m hoping to do as a thank you for subscribers who might be at the Australian Open in coming days.
And as always, we will finish previews of matches to watch tomorrow, when seeds first begin meeting at the year’s first major.
An Interview with Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko
One note here, which some folks may not know: Jelena Ostapenko goes by the name Alyona (also sometimes spelled Alona or Aljona) as explained in this New York Times story I wrote in 2017 that gets into Latvian naming confusions you may not have encountered before.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: You (Alyona) were telling me that she reached out to you.
Jelena Ostapenko: I think Su-wei asked first, then I was not available. And then I asked Su-wei. So it was both.
Hsieh Su-wei: My coach was asking her.
Jelena Ostapenko: And then I was already set for all last year. So then, for this year, I asked back.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: What made you want to play with Alyona?
Hsieh Su-wei: My coach would say, ‘Oh let’s play with Alyona!’ I say, ‘OK.’ He looked excited, so I’m excited. I’m easy to get a feeling from the people around me.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: What kind of feeling have you gotten with her so far?
Hsieh Su-wei: I feel powerful. Now I feel powerful on the court, too.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: You played against each other, I’m sure, a bunch before.
Hsieh Su-wei: Singles and doubles. Many times.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: So what did you (Su-wei) think of her as an opponent?
Hsieh Su-wei: Powerful. Yeah.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: And what did you (Alyona) think of her as an opponent?
Jelena Ostapenko: Yeah, it was actually, in singles, very tough to play Su-wei because she has unbelievable hands, I think. Like, one of the best on the tour. And you had to really play very, very—how you say—focused all match because she was hitting unbelievable shots.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: And for her (Alyona) she’s unpredictable, too. You are very aggressive, one of the most aggressive players.
Hsieh Su-wei: So I have to run. I need to be very focused on the running, and catching the ball.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: How about your personalities? How much did you know each other before teaming up?
Jelena Ostapenko: Not really much, I think.
Hsieh Su-wei: Not much. But the tennis girls are always very nice, very good.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: …always?
Hsieh Su-wei: [Playing] on different sides, it’s not the same. But when you’re on the same side, they are very good. I know they are very good. So I just need to be on their side, next to them. Choose the right spot!
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: In terms of your styles, you both have unique styles on court as well, too. What do you (Alyona) make of her style?
Jelena Ostapenko: I think we can be a good doubles pair because we can—how do you say...
Hsieh Su-wei: We are creating our own style.
Jelena Ostapenko: Yeah, I’m really powerful at the baseline. It makes it so much easier for Su-wei’s life at the net. And she can play a lot at the net from my shots. So I think it’s like one is completing the other.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Yeah, I think so, too. Big power, and then a lot of touch, perfect hands.
Jelena Ostapenko: Yeah, one of the best volleys on the tour, I think, Su-wei has.
Hsieh Su-wei: Thank youuuuuuuuuuuu! [makes a heart with her hands].
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: How important is it to have that kind of, I guess, contrast in a team, to have different things you bring to the team. You’ve both had different partners before; is it important for your partner to be different from you?
Jelena Ostapenko: I think there has to be chemistry. It has to work out at some point. Sometimes there are two good players, but they cannot play together. There has to be some chemistry, and you have to feel each other.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: I saw a bunch of fans who are excited about this pairing, because both of you are big favorites of people who watch a lot of women’s tennis. They’re very fond of both of you, and so they were excited that you were coming together. Have you seen that? You (Alyona) were nodding. Have you seen some reactions to the team, that people were excited to see you were playing with with Su-wei?
Jelena Ostapenko: Yeah, there was so many fans of Su-wei today at the court, I think. I asked her what they were saying in Chinese, but she told me it’s like ‘Let’s go’ or something.
Hsieh Su-wei: Come on, you know?
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Jiayou?
Hsieh Su-wei: Jiayou, yes.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Do you (Alyona) understand why she’s so popular?
Jelena Ostapenko: Of course!
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Why do you think she’s so popular?
Jelena Ostapenko: Because I think it’s so interesting to watch her play. Because I honestly don’t like to play just boring players. I like someone who is different from others. And I think Su-wei, she has great hands. And it’s always entertaining to watch her play.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: And do you (Su-wei) understand why Alyona is so popular?
Hsieh Su-wei: I know! Because she’s very powerful and she catches every ball and she SMASH on the girls.
Jelena Ostapenko: [cackling]
Hsieh Su-wei: And this is why we love to watch Alyona.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: I wanted to ask you (Alyona) about your clothes, because I hadn’t noticed that you switched to Adidas this season [Ed: instead of Latvian brand DK1One].
Jelena Ostapenko: Uhhh, we will see. But yeah. Something was wrong with my outfit here.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: So it’s just a one tournament deal?
Jelena Ostapenko: We’ll see.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: OK. It looks good on you, but other stuff looked good too. Because you always had very unique clothes, so I think people were interested in that, too.
Jelena Ostapenko: Yeah, yeah. But there was something wrong with my clothes and there was not enough time to fix it, so.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: You (Su-wei) are also always picking your own clothes, right?
Hsieh Su-wei: Uhhhhh [drawing an imaginary logo on her shirt with her finger] I’m sponsored by myself.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: How important is that to you, to be able to have your own style for fashion and to be able to express yourself on court.
Hsieh Su-wei: You know, I don’t have a manager for a long time, so I decide to buy my own clothes. Because sometimes if you wear the same as other girl, people cannot recognize you.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: It’s true.
Jelena Ostapenko: Yeah, that’s true, because it’s what happened with me when I played the French Open final.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Yeah, exactly.
Jelena Ostapenko: I think on one side, it’s good for the brand because they see more people wearing the same outfits and this becomes more popular, like, marketing-wise. But for the girls, I don’t know. Some girls are fine with it, but some girls, they want to be more unique and they want to wear their own stuff.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Yeah, I remember that match because you and Halep were in the same green-and-white Adidas dress in that match in that match.
Jelena Ostapenko: Yeah, I really loved that Adidas dress. It was one of my favorite ones.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: I was talking to Adidas about that actually during the tournament. They were saying they didn’t want to make someone change, because for both of you, it’s like your lucky outfit during the tournament.
Jelena Ostapenko: Ohhhhh.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: And it’s the final? But it’s obviously not ideal, or not what you want, when you’re matching the opponent, I guess, and especially in a big match.
Jelena Ostapenko: Yeah. Maybe first rounds are fine, but in the final, you want to just be a little bit different from the others.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: And you (Su-wei) never looked the same as anyone else.
Hsieh Su-wei: Uh, before, when I had Yonex when I was under 20. I wore Yonex clothes, but it was not many girls that have a contract with Yonex, so it was unique as well.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Any last thoughts on what you guys are hoping to be able to do together as a team this year?
Jelena Ostapenko: Just take one match at a time. Yeah, don’t put pressure on ourselves. I think that’s when we’re going to play the best.
Hsieh Su-wei: I always try to enjoy it.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Thanks very much. I appreciate it. Good to see you two!
Again for a reminder of what lies below:
The audio file of my conversation with Hsieh and Ostapenko;
Information on a thank-you giveaway for subscribers who might be at the Australian Open in coming days;
And lastly another daily preview of matches to watch, this time for Day 6 when seeds will facing off against one another for the first time at the 2025 Australian Open.
Hope you can take the leap! -Ben
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