Tennis Stars Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko Get into Fiery Post-Match Spat at US Open: 'I Expect Respect'

NEED TO KNOW

• Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko got into a fiery post-match spat at the US Open on Wednesday, Aug. 27
• Townsend won the second-round match 7-5 6-1
• The two addressed the situation online and via a post-match interview and press conference

Taylor Townsend may have worn flames on her outfit for her US Open second-round match against Jelena Ostapenko, but the 29-year-old probably wasn't expecting them to come to life following her win.

After they shook hands following the match on Wednesday, Aug. 27 — which U.S. tennis star Townsend won 7-5 6-1 — the pair appeared to get into a heated argument.

According to The Athletic, the fiery exchange of words began after Ostapenko, 28, told Townsend that she should say sorry for a shot that clipped the top of the net but stayed in play, which is known as a net cord.

In post-match footage shared by ESPN, Townsend appears to say afterwards, "No, I don't have to say sorry." The intensifying boos from the crowd blocked the sound from the players, but Ostapenko can be seen pointing her finger at Townsend repeatedly afterwards.

Ostapenko appears visibly confused and shakes her head multiple times as the argument carries on. As the exchange ends, Ostapenko appears to tell Townsend, "You have no education," three times.

According to BBC Sport, on-court microphones also picked up Townsend telling Ostapenko to "take the L [loss]."

Footage shared on X of the players following the match then showed Townsend hyping up the crowd as she celebrated her win.

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."

She also complained about Townsend warming up before the match-up at the net, instead of back at the baseline, as "all players are supposed to," calling Townsend's actions "very disrespectful and against the rules of tennis." According to the Associated Press, Townsend has started with volleying for years.

Townsend addressed her complaints during the press conference expressing, "this isn't the first, second, third, fourth time I've played Jelena, so if she's complaining about how I warm up, that's fine."

"Everyone knows this isn't — this is something that I do. You can go back to the time that I played my first-ever pro tennis match, and I've been doing this since even juniors," she said. "It wasn't anything targeted towards her to try and take her off of her game or her rhythm. You know, I just was doing my thing."

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.

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"Unfortunately for me coming from such a small country I don't have that huge support and a chance to play in homeland. I always loved to play in the US and US OPEN, but this is the first time someone is approaching the match this disrespectful way," her message continued.

Townsend is next set to play 18-year-old Russian tennis star Mirra Andreeva in her third-round match on Friday.

Read the original article on People