Jelena Ostapenko appears to tell Taylor Townsend she has ‘no education’ after U.S. Open defeat

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Jelena Ostapenko appeared to tell Taylor Townsend that she has “no education” after losing to the American 7-5, 6-1 in the second round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday.

After Townsend, the women’s doubles world No. 1, had sealed the win, she approached the Latvian world No. 26 for the customary handshake at the net. An altercation ensued, with Ostapenko telling Townsend that she should have said sorry for a shot that clipped the top of the net but stayed in play, known as a net cord.

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Townsend said she did not have to say sorry, and the altercation continued. Toward the end, Ostapenko appeared to repeat the phrase “you have no education” three times before Townsend told her that she could “learn how to take a loss better.”

Townsend then walked away, shook hands with the chair umpire and appealed to the crowd to make some noise for her win — and for Ostapenko’s exit. The Latvian left in a car with her gear immediately afterward.

In an on-court interview with ESPN, Townsend said, “It’s competition, people get upset when they lose. Some people say bad things.

“She told me I have no class, no education, and to see what happens when we get outside the U.S.

“I’m looking forward to it. I mean, I’m looking forward to it, I beat her in Canada outside the U.S.”

In a statement on social media, Ostapenko wrote that she “told my opponent that she was very disrespectful as she had a net ball in a very deciding moment and didn’t say sorry at all.

“There are some rules in tennis that most of the players follow and it was first time 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 a post-match news conference that was equal parts passionate, spirited, triumphant and raw, Townsend said this sort of behavior was nothing new from Ostapenko, who was sore about losing and let it show as she so often has in the past.

Townsend said Ostapenko’s words, charged as they were, are a part of sports, where people fight and win or lose and trash talk their way through confrontations both during and after the competition.

She also said that he was not going to back down after an altercation in front of so many people live, and many thousands more watching on TV and online.

“I’m just not going to tolerate disrespect,” Townsend said. “You’re not going to disrespect me in my face.

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She said there had never been any history between them, and that in the moment, she was thinking about acting in a way that would make her young son proud when he saw a video of it.

“I’m very strong,” she said. “I’m very proud as a Black woman being out here representing myself and representing us and our culture. I make sure that I do everything that I can to be the best representation possible every time that I step on the court and even off the court.”

She said she did not take Ostapenko’s comments as a dog whistle. Ostapenko, she said, would have to answer for that.

“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,” she said.

“The thing that I’m the most proud of is that I let my racquet talk. Because ultimately, I’m the one here sitting in front of you guys moving on to the next round, getting the next check, moving on, being able to still be here and speak to you guys, and that’s what’s the most important.”

Ostapenko later suggested that she had received messages on social media saying that she was racist.

“Wow how many messages I have received that I am racist,” she wrote.

“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. 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.”

Ostapenko also criticized Townsend for warming up at the net at the start of the match. Convention dictates that players go from the service line, to the baseline, and then to the net, but there is no rule regarding warm-up positions.

Townsend said she has been warming up that way for as long as she has been competing in tennis, going back to her years in the juniors.

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“It wasn’t anything targeted towards her to try and take her off of her game or her rhythm,” Townsend said. “I just was doing my thing. Honestly, laugh at it. I think it’s comical. I think that it’s kind of funny, because to then go online and have to justify what you said, you obviously feel some type of way and feel like you have to give an explanation for how you acted.”

Townsend moves on to play either Anastasia Potapova or No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva in round three.

“She’s packed up and she’s gone. I’m here, and that’s the only thing that matters,” Townsend said.

(Photo: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)

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