"I was never a racist in my life": Jelena Ostapenko blames Townsend for "disrespectful" actions

The altercation between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko was one of the highlights of the day in the US Open second round. The American won 7-5, 6-1, ending with the former French Open champion arguing with her opponent because she did not like her attitude during the match.

Both players later responded, explaining their version of the situation. While Townsend mentioned that her opponent told her that she “has no class or education,” Ostapenko took to social media to express her disapproval of what she considered to be her opponent's disrespectful attitude. Later, Ostapenko responded to accusations on her social media that she had been racist.

Ostapenko entered the match as the clear favorite, with a world No. 26 ranking and a smooth victory over China's Xinyu Wang in the first round (6-4, 6-3). On Court 11, Ostapenko started with a double break and quickly went up 3-0. However, the joy was short-lived, as Townsend gradually took control of the match, also leveraging the home-court advantage and the crowd, which was fully on her side.

The former French Open champion never managed to find her rhythm. Townsend turned the match around, winning 13 of the next 15 games and closing out with an impressive 7-5, 6-1 victory against an erratic Ostapenko, who, when shaking hands at the net, did not hesitate to make her feelings known.

After the match, Townsend had an explosive reaction in her response to Ostapenko, then turned to the crowd while celebrating her victory, encouraging them to boo her opponent, who left the court with the audience completely against her. The American had secured her third appearance in the US Open Round of 32 and an important sum of points that will move her up from her current ranking of No. 129.

A few minutes later, Townsend gave her on-court interview, still visibly upset by the altercation. She responded honestly when asked what Ostapenko had said to her at the net. "It’s competition, people get upset when they lose and some people say bad things,” the 29-year-old player said.

“She told me I have no class, I have no education and to see what happens when we get outside the US,” the doubles world No. 1 commented. “I'm looking forward to it. I mean, I beat her in Canada outside the US, I beat her in New York outside the US. So let's see what else she has to say," Taylor Townsend said.

Jelena Ostapenko's strong temperament is no surprise. She has had several altercations with her colleagues when things get complicated on the court. This time at Flushing Meadows, she got into a heated argument with local favorite Townsend, turning the crowd against her during their second-round match.

The argument between Townsend and Ostapenko quickly spread on social media, including the American's explanation, who did not take her opponent's complaint well at all. A couple of hours later, 'Penko' took to her social media to give her impressions on what happened.

"Just a small update about the match. 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 at all."

"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. If she plays in her homeland it doesn’t mean that she can behave and do whatever she wants."

"In the beginning of the match all players are supposed to start warm up on the baseline. The opponent came up and straight away started the warm up at the net, which is very disrespectful and against the rules of a tennis match."

However, Ostapenko didn't stop there with her Instagram stories, and a few minutes later, she delved deeper into the controversy after receiving a large number of responses. "Wow, how many messages I received that I am a racist. I was NEVER a racist in my life, and 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 a disrespectful way to your opponent. Unfortunately for me, coming from such a small country, I don't have that huge support and a chance to play in my homeland. I always loved to play in the US and at the US Open, but this is the first time someone is approaching the match in such a disrespectful way."