Taylor Townsend beat Jelena Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1 in a US Open second-round match. Ostapenko angrily confronted Townsend on court after the match and reportedly told her she had no class and no education. Townsend said she did not take the comments as racist but noted a stigma in her community about being perceived as uneducated. Ostapenko posted on Instagram criticizing Townsend for not apologizing after winning a point via a fortuitous net cord and denied any racist intent. Ostapenko also objected to Townsend warming up at the net rather than the baseline. Townsend said she was proud of how she handled the confrontation and later won a first-round doubles match.
Taylor Townsend said she believes she handled a heated exchange with Jelena Ostapenko gracefully after the Latvian accused her of having no class and no education following Townsend's upset victory at the US Open on Wednesday. Townsend won her second-round clash in straight-sets against the Number 25 seed, winning 7-5, 6-1 against the 2017 French Open champion. Ostapenko, however, angrily confronted Townsend on-court after the match, with Townsend stating that the Latvian had told her that she had no class and no education.
In a post-match press conference, Townsend was asked if she believed the comments had racial undertones. I didn't take it in that way, but also, you know, that has been a stigma in our community of being not educated' and all of the things, when it's the furthest thing from the truth, Townsend said on Wednesday. Ostapenko later blasted Townsend in a post on Instagram, criticizing her opponent for not apologizing after winning a point via a fortuitous net cord.
Today after the match I told my opponent that she was very disrespectful as she had a net ball in a very deciding moment and didn't say sorry, but her argument was that she doesn't have to say sorry at all, Ostapenko said on Instagram. There are some rules in tennis which most of the players follow and it was the first time ever that this happened to me on tour.
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