This year’s US Open has already been full of chaos and drama and they’re not even done with the second round! For the first time ever, the tournament started on a Sunday, and on the very first night, there was one of the biggest controversies of the year, when a photographer stepped ON COURT in the middle of a match, then Daniil Medvedev had a complete meltdown and almost started a riot in the stands. But I think this situation, which went down on Wednesday, will probably get even more play outside of the sports world.
So, first, some background. Taylor Townsend is a Black American woman, the #1 doubles player in the world, and a mom. Taylor has had to deal with a lot of bullsh-t from a lot of people (including the USTA) over the course of her career. She has always handled her business with grace, humor and heart. She is beloved by fans and popular among her fellow players. On Wednesday, she played Jelena Ostapenko, a spicy and mercurial Latvian who is also a fan-fave. Penko won the French Open in 2017, and she won the US Open women’s doubles title last year. Ostapenko and Townsend have played each other before, and in the first set, they played each other hard, with a lot of brilliant shot-making and power. Townsend grinded out the first set, and then Ostapenko completely fell apart in the second set, meaning Townsend won in straight sets. After the match, when the players shook each other’s hands, Ostapenko started bitching out Townsend, who gave it right back. When Townsend was interviewed on court after the match, she revealed what Ostapenko said to her:
Speaking about what happened in her post-match interview with ESPN, Townsend said that “people get upset when they lose. Some people say bad things.”
Townsend, who is ranked No. 1 in doubles, then claimed that Ostapenko, who is from Latvia, told her she has “no class, I have no education and to see what happens when we get outside the U.S., so I’m looking forward to it.” “I mean, 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.
During her post-match press conference, Townsend spoke further about Ostapenko, expressing that there has “never been any history” between the two. Townsend said she attributed Ostapenko’s attitude to competition as she was playing “really well” before the “tables turned.”
“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,” she said, noting that she did not expect an apology from Ostapenko’s statement on her Instagram Stories.
“There’s no beef. But again, like you guys saw, 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,” Townsend continued. “If I show respect to you, I expect respect as well. That’s just the fact of the matter.”
Ostapenko addressed the situation in a lengthy post where she said that Townsend was “very disrespectful” for not saying “sorry” after “she had a net ball in a very deciding moment” in the match. “Her answer was that she doesn’t have to say sorry at all,” Ostapenko added. “There are some rules of 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.”
When Townsend was asked if she believed Ostapenko’s comment had a racial undertone, she said she couldn’t speak to Ostapenko’s intentions. Ostapenko, however, addressed it in a follow-up post on her Instagram Stories.
“Wow how many messages I received that I am a racist. 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 disrespectful way to your opponent,” she wrote.
A few things… it’s the “no class, no education” comment which has upset a lot of people, including me. You just don’t say that to another player, especially a Black woman who has had to fight and grind for everything she has, and who has done so with grace. Ostapenko is also out of her f–king mind to get that upset about her opponent not faux-apologizing for a lucky shot or a ball which bounces off the netcord. While a lot of players “apologize,” it’s not like it’s a rule or anything. Anyway, Ostapenko really messed with the wrong one.
Screencaps courtesy of ESPN.
