The Taylor Townsend-Jelena Ostapenko spat has taken the tennis community by storm.
On the heels of their second-round clash yesterday, the two met at the net for what turned out to be a heated handshake. After an extended exchange that saw the two continue to trade words in front of Ostapenko’s bench, the unseeded American revealed in her on-court interview that Ostapenko told her she has no class and no education.
During his US Open Day 4 recap on YouTube, former US Open champ Andy Roddick weighed in, calling Ostapenko a hypocrite.
“Let’s level set here. I like meltdowns. I think they are entertaining. I had meltdowns so I can’t criticise someone for a meltdown, which is my point. … Ostapenko lecturing someone about class on a tennis court is like me lecturing someone about trying everything they can to stop losing their hair. It’s like the heights of hypocrisy and that bothers me.
“If you have that opinion that you want to lecture someone about sportsmanship, I have a suggestion, start looking people in the eye when you shake their hands. Let’s start with that. And then about 15 steps later you can criticize someone for not saying sorry on a let cord.”
Aryna Sabalenka Details Brief Exchange With Jelena Ostapenko After US Open Loss
While speaking with members of the press on Wednesday, WTA world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka dished on a brief exchange she had with Ostapenko following her post-match spat with Taylor Townsend.
As the three-time Grand Slam winner cryptically noted, Ostapenko is currently going through things in her personal life that may have contributed to the outburst:
“I actually spoke to Jelena after the match, but during our conversation I didn’t know what happened. Well, I have to say that she’s nice. She just can sometimes lose control. She has some things in life to face and some struggles, so I was just trying to help her to—not like face it more in a mature way, but I was just trying to help her to settle down—and someone she could speak to and let it go.
“I think she can just sometimes lose control over her emotions, which is pretty tough, and I really hope that one day she will figure out herself and she will handle it much better.”
Jelena Ostapenko Shares “Small Update” On Social Media
Following Wednesday’s match, Jelena Ostapenko defended herself on Instagram, stating that she told Townsend she was very disrespectful for not apologizing for the let ball, a common practice in tennis, albeit one that many consider a “fauxpology”.
In a post on her Instagram story, Ostapenko wrote:
“Just a small update about the match. Today after the match / 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 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.”
While the general consensus seems to be that Ostapenko crossed the line, the topic of “fauxpologies” after clipping the net is sure to be an even bigger source of debate going forward.
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