Jelena Ostapenko coudln’t hide her amusement as Ons Jabeur gave the fans a telling-off during their match in Doha.

As the tour’s only top Arab player, Jabeur is always a crowd favourite at the Qatar Open. But she stepped in when the thought spectators were interrupting her opponent’s service motion.

Ostapenko went on to win in straight sets, getting revenge after Jabeur beat her just last week in Abu Dhabi.

Jabeur and Ostapenko had both caused some upsets in the Qatar Open draw before facing off in the quarter-final. The Tunisian knocked out No. 7 seed and Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng.

Meanwhile, Ostapenko beat two seeds back-to-back, earning wins over Liudmila Samsonova and Jasmine Paolini. Her victory over Paolini was her first against a top-10 player in more than a year.

Both women could sense an opportunity when they met in Thursday’s quarter-final. Ostapenko struck first and raced through the opening set, taking it 6-2.

The fans were keen to back Jabeur and help her get back into the match. But things went too far when some interrupted while Ostapenko was trying to serve and cheered on her mistakes.

Even Jabeur had enough. The world No. 35 took matters into her own fans while her opponent was trying to close out the first game of the second set.

She raised her arms in the air, telling the spectators to stop while Ostapenko watched over from the other side of the net, laughing. The Latvian continued rolling through and sealed a 6-2 6-2 victory in 71 minutes, booking her spot in the last four.

Afterwards, Ostapenko addressed the crowd and told them they “angered” her. “It’s great that Ons is playing like a woman from Middle East and she is representing,” the former French Open winner said on the court.

“It’s amazing what she has done for tennis but you guys made me angry and more motivated.”

Ostapenko also took aim at the rowdy spectators during her post-match press conference. She added: “Yeah, thanks to them, especially between serves.

“Honestly, like between serves, I think, I know Ons is their favourite, and this is like very normal, I respect that, but, you know, between serves, shouting and whistling and coughing, I think it’s a little bit disrespectful, not only to me, if this happens to any other player I think they should be taken care of.

“But in general, of course I respect Ons, I respect the crowds, and I feel like some moments they were even motivating me better, like more and more, and I was playing even better, so I kind of like it, you know.”

Ostapenko will now face Iga Swiatek. The world No. 2 has not lost a match in Doha since 2020, winning three titles on the bounce. But Ostapenko has a 4-0 record against Swiatek.