The 2025 US Open is fully underway and emotions are running high at the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year, as evidenced by a heated exchange between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko.
Townsend defeated Ostapenko, 7-5, 6-1, in their second-round match Wednesday evening on Court 11 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Townsend of the U.S. and Ostapenko of Latvia approached the net for a customary post-match handshake and a verbal confrontation ensued. Both players went back and forth as Ostapenko waved her finger at Townsend. Townsend eventually ended up walking away from Ostapenko. The American threw her racket down in celebration and prompted the crowd to cheer by holding her hand to her ear.
‘People get upset when they lose and some people say bad things,’ Townsend said following the match. “(Ostapenko) told me I have no class, no education and to see what happens when we get outside the U.S.’
Here’s what we know about the exchange:
What caused US Open confrontation between Taylor Townsend, Jelena Ostapenko?
Ostapenko revealed on her Instagram Story that the confrontation stemmed from Townsend’s lack of apology for ‘a net ball’ during their match. (It is a common courtesy for players to acknowledge if they win a point after the ball clips the net, although not mandatory.) Ostapenko also took issue with Townsend’s warmup routine.
‘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 at all,’ Ostapenko wrote. ‘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 behave and do whatever she wants.’
Jelena Ostapenko: ‘I was NEVER racist in my life’
‘I respect all nations of people in the world, for me it doesn’t matter where you come from. There are some rules in tennis and unfortunately when the crowd is with you, you can’t use it in disrespectful way to your opponent,’ Ostapenko wrote. ‘Unfortunately for me coming from such a small country, I don’t have that huge support and a chance to play in homeland. I always loved to play in the US and US OPEN, but this is the first time someone is approaching the match this disrespectful way.’
Taylor Townsend: There’s ‘no beef on my side’
Ostapenko opened Wednesday’s match with a 5-3 lead in the first set — “When she was playing well, I didn’t say anything. That just shows class,’ said Townsend — before the American won nine consecutive games. Ostapenko got on the board in the second set at 5-1, but it was too little, too late for the Latvian.
‘I turned it up another level and that’s what I’m most proud of today,’ said Townsend, who later added in her press conference: ‘(Ostapenko) was just playing really well. Then when the tables turned, it all of a sudden became an issue. So I chalked it up to competition. I chalk it up to being upset and, you know, she pulled out all the stops to try and break the momentum. Sometimes people do that, but it is what it is.’
Despite the confrontation, Townsend said there’s ‘no beef’ with Ostapenko on her end.
‘No, there’s never been any history. I don’t know how she feels about me, but there’s no beef on my side,’ Townsend said during her press conference. ‘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.’
Taylor Townsend, Jelena Ostapenko head-to-head matchup
Townsend, who was recently ranked the No. 1 overall player in doubles, is never one to back down from competition and said she’s ‘looking forward to’ playing Ostapenko again in the future. ‘I beat her in Canada outside the U.S. I beat her in New York inside the U.S. So, let’s see what else she has to say,’ she added.
Wednesday’s match marked the third overall meeting between Townsend and Ostapenko. Townsend leads the head-to-head 2-1. In addition to Wednesday’s US Open win, Townsend defeated Ostapenko, 6-2, 6-1, at the 2024 National Bank Open in Toronto. Ostapenko took their first matchup, beating Townsend, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, at the 2018 US Open in New York.
Townsend will face No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva in the third round of the US Open. Her best finish in the tournament was the 2019 US Open, when she advanced to the fourth round.
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