Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend controversy
After Ostapenko’s outburst during her second round match against Taylor Townsend at the US Open, the drama between them soon exploded into the main story of the entire tournament. Townsend, currently ranked outside the top 100 in singles but a former world No. 1 in doubles, secured a decisive victory against Ostapenko with a score of 7-5, 6-1 on September 2, 2023.
As the match ended, both players moved toward the net for their standard post-match handshake. The exchange soon tripled in intensity when Ostapenko reportedly made a rude remark to Townsend. Evidence provided in news reports indicate Ostapenko then challenged Townsend, accusing her of lacking “class, education.” She further wondered what would happen if the two met outside US territory. It was the first headline-grabbing moment in what became an all-out war of words between the two stars.
Townsend came alive on the un-fancied Court 11. Her home crowd of 10,000 rallied behind her, and they set the stage for an electric scene as she battled through the championship match. This encouragement probably made Ostapenko’s annoyance worse, making her complain about Townsend’s behavior on court all match. Criticism was already directed at the Latvian player for her actions. As recently as 2021 at Wimbledon, Osaka faced accusations of faking an injury.
Following the match, Townsend took to Instagram to share her feelings about Ostapenko’s comments in their post-match handshake.
“She told me I have no class, no education, and to see what happens when we get outside the US,” – Taylor Townsend
Ostapenko went on to double down on her attack. An insight into her feelings came on when Townsend refused to show his team good grace after a vital net ball during the final.
“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,” – Jelena Ostapenko
The exchange has attracted interest beyond its intensity because of Ostapenko’s previous history of controversial behavior. In a particularly egregious case, she publicly shamed fellow competitor Ajla Tomljanovic, accusing her of being “the worst player on tour.” This statement followed another game at Wimbledon, where she was accused of unsportsmanlike conduct.
In all of the increasing fury Ostapenko hotly rejected any accusations of racism thrown down by Townsend.
“I was NEVER racist in my life and I respect all nations of people in the world. For me it doesn’t matter where you come from,” – Jelena Ostapenko