Taylor Townsend rubbishes Jelena Ostapenko ‘no class’ jibe after fiery US Open clash
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Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia walks off the court after losing to Taylor Townsend of the United States during their second round match.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW YORK – Latvian Jelena Ostapenko was involved in a furious on-court confrontation with Taylor Townsend after being dumped out of the US Open by the unseeded American on Aug 27.
The 25th-seeded Ostapenko unleashed an angry verbal volley at Townsend following her 7-5, 6-1 second-round defeat. Townsend later revealed that Ostapenko had accused her of lacking class during her tirade.
“She told me I have no education, no class, and to see what happens if we play each other outside of the US,” Townsend told reporters.
“I said, ‘I’m excited, bring it’. I’ve never been the one to back down from anything like that. I just thought that it was really interesting. There’s no beef. But again, like you guys saw, 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... it was unfortunate, but, you know, it’s something I can put on my TikTok.”
Ostapenko said in a post on Instagram that she had been angered by Townsend’s failure to acknowledge a net cord in the American’s favour during the match.
The 28-year-old also accused Townsend of breaching etiquette by starting her pre-match warmup at the net.
“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 answer was that she doesn’t have to say sorry,” Ostapenko fumed.
“There are some rules in tennis which most of the players follow and it was first time ever that this happened to me on tour. If she plays in her homeland, it doesn’t mean that she can do whatever she wants.”
Ostapenko’s explanation failed to impress Townsend when she was told of the Latvian’s remarks.
“I mean, it’s sports,” Townsend said. “I feel like people have gotten a little bit soft. I’m not going to lie. It’s sports. People talk trash. You know, people say things. Whatever, people get mad.
“Everyone has a right to feel how they feel. The problem is, don’t push your expectations on me. If you expect for someone to apologise, and they don’t and you get upset about it, that’s your fault, not mine.”
Ostapenko received words of support from world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who revealed after her late-night match that she had spoken with the Latvian following the incident.
“I have to say that she’s nice,” Sabalenka said of Ostapenko. “Just sometimes she can lose control over her emotions, which is pretty tough.
“I’m pretty sure, looking back, she’s not happy with her behaviour.” AFP
