Grand Slam tennis can get pretty intense, but things don’t often get personal on court. But that’s exactly what happened during the US Open second round women’s singles match between American Taylor Townsend and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko at Flushing Meadows.
The local player prevailed 7-5, 6-1, but the talking point was Townsend not apologising when a net cord went her way – considered the charitable thing to do in tennis. It prompted Ostapenko, a former French Open champion now ranked 26th in the world, to allege that her opponent had “no class” and “no education.”
There was a curt handshake at the net when the match got over, followed by an animated argument.
What Ostapenko told Townsend
“She told me I have no education, no class, and to see what happens if we play each other outside of the US. I said, ‘I’m excited, bring it on.’”, Townsend said after the match.
The American did her bit to whip up the home crowd, celebrating exuberantly after the victory, and her opponent was booed loudly as she left the court. On-court microphones picked up the 29-year-old Townsend, the No.1 doubles player in the world, telling Ostapenko to “take the L (loss)”.
Ostapenko, the 2017 singles champion at Roland Garros, is currently ranked No.3 in doubles, but Townsend said she will carry no hard feelings towards the Latvian and she was only standing up for herself.
“There’s no beef,” the American said. “But I didn’t back down because you’re not going to insult me, especially after I carried myself a certain type of way, with nothing but respect. If I show respect to you, I expect respect as well. That’s just the fact of the matter,” the 29-year-old said.
Story continues below this ad
Ostapenko hits back
Ostapenko later posted on Instagram that Townsend had been “very disrespectful.”
“I told my opponent she didn’t say sorry [for the net cord], but her answer was that she doesn’t have to say sorry at all,” Ostapenko wrote. “There are some rules in tennis which most of the players follow and it was the first time ever that this has happened to me on tour. If she plays in her homeland, it doesn’t mean she can behave and do whatever she wants.”
Were Ostapenko’s comments racial in nature?
With Townsend being African-American, there was some speculation on whether her outburst was racially motivated, but she said “I didn’t take it in that way. Whether it had racial undertones or not, that’s something she can speak on.”
“Saying I have no education and no class, I don’t really take that personally, because I know that it’s so far from the truth. If I allow what other people have to say about me to affect me in that way, then they win.”
Ostapenko denied her comments were racial in nature.
Story continues below this ad
“I was never racist in my life,” she wrote on social media. “I respect all nations of people in the world; for me it doesn’t matter where you come from.”
