Why Did Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko Argue?

Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Things got tense at the U.S. Open on Wednesday when American tennis star Taylor Townsend and Latvian player Jelena Ostapenko got into a heated argument after their second-round match. In videos of the moment, Ostapenko, who lost the match, appeared to tell Townsend she should have said sorry for hitting a net cord, a legal tennis shot in which the ball makes contact with the top of the net. Townsend replied that she didn’t have to apologize. Loud boos from the crowd made it difficult to make out what the players said next, but Ostapenko appeared to tell Townsend she had “no education.” In response, per the Athletic, Townsend told her she should “learn how to take a loss better.”

Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko got in a heated interaction after their second round match at the US Open.

Townsend is on to the third round. pic.twitter.com/cOIYzoyfmG — ESPN (@espn) August 27, 2025

In a post-match interview with ESPN, Townsend spoke about the incident, saying “people get upset when they lose” and “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.,” she said. Townsend said she was “looking forward to it,” noting that she’s already “beat her in Canada outside the U.S.” Later, in a press conference, Townsend said she and Ostapenko had played each other multiple times before but said there’s “never been any history” between them. “I mean, I don’t know how she feels about me, but there’s no beef on my side,” she said.

Asked by a reporter whether she believed Ostapenko’s comment had “racial undertones,” Townsend, who is Black, said she “can’t speak on what her intentions” were but acknowledged it could be taken that way. “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.

Ostapenko later posted to her Instagram Story about “how many messages I received that I am a racist,” per the Athletic. “I was NEVER racist in my life and I respect all nations of people in the world,” she wrote. “For me it doesn’t matter where you come from,” she wrote.

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