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.
The microagressions. Hopefully someone will pull Jelena aside and explain to her why what she said was racist. I suspect if she was playing a white player she wouldn’t have had the same reaction to her opponent not saying sorry on a net ball.
She’s not a child. No one needs to explain anything. She knew exactly what the f@ck she was saying. If she was pissed about the net ball say that. No she had to resort to tires racist tropes to make Taylor feel small.
Because she didn’t use a racist slur she doesn’t believe that what she said was racist. Sometimes you have let people know when they’re being racist and why what they said was racist.
WORD UP.
@Amy Bee, I am SURE she knows. Quite sure.
I’m also sure that Ostapenko knows that instead of being universally called out for her highly problematic behavior — which reveals her own lack of class and education (funny – that! ) — there will be some who instantly give her the benefit of the doubt, and urge that she be gently educated instead of receiving the opprobrium that her behavior warrants. It’s wild to me that the first comment in this thread is about explaining things to Ostapenko — rather than about maintaining an appropriate work space for Townsend, and for anyone else who overheard Ostapenko’s aggressive comments.
I can’t know that and there’s no harm in telling what she said is racist. A lot of these people hide behind the fact they didn’t say a slur so they didn’t say anything racist. Let them know that their civil tongue is a forked one.
@blithe don’t bother. People like this make me tired. Coddling these women are why we are here and then try gaslight like “well maybe she didn’t know because she didn’t say a slur”
Don’t waste anymore of your time with this person. Likely she relates to her which is why she is so hellbent on coddling her.And you don’t ever put your finger anyone’s face but I guess she doesn’t understand how triggering that is to BW.
I appreciate your wisdom @BlueSky, and I just deleted my follow-up comments.
Thanks for pulling my coat here!
She knows what she said and she MEANT to say it. Now that she’s been outted she’s acting like she’s innocent. Please….
Wow that interaction was wild. The finger in the face from Penko towards Taylor was not okay. Taylor telling her she’s a good player at the end and keeping it moving…now that was class.
Always, the hard work of having to deal “with class and taking the high road” seems to fall on the shoulders of women of colour. Penko, or anyone who comes at another player like that, should be disciplined promptly and publicly. There should be no room in any sport for behaviour like that. And yes, I know, it probably won’t be for reasons like: she doesn’t understand what she said, she’s not from America, she was overwhelmed with how she lost, etc. And there’s Taylor having to mind her words in the presser, knowing everyone is watching, including her child. The male commentators for the match I was watching defended Taylor and had not very nice things to say about Penko, which is notable because men tend not to comment on this type of interaction between women, or worse, they laugh.
On my goodness, no one better come at me with that, ‘she’s not American, so she doesn’t know’ nonsense. Racism is in every country and the insults are the same. And if she really cared about being accused of being racist, she could easily search the web and know what people mean.
Ostapenko acts like this regularly — and she can play the victim all day long, those are nothing but dog whistles she put out on a national stage. We see you Jelena.
Medvedev should be fined heavily and should have been defaulted — he is also an ass regularly.
I don’t mind Medvedev being upset — the problem wasn’t really the photographer, it was the chair umpire. Neither player noticed the photographer until the umpire stopped the match and then awarded a second first serve. Who knows how the match would’ve gone otherwise, but the umpire definitely intervened in a way that had an impact.
I don’t mind him being upset either — asking the chair “are you a man?” and his other comments and his inciting the crowd to disrupt his opponent’s serve when it was match point was unacceptable. The US Open crowds are already the most disrespectful of the players and the game — it was unfair to Bonzi and changed the course of the match.
That stingy haired racist-ass hater had the gall because she felt emboldened. People are out here saying what she did a micro aggression — nah, that is out and out KKK Trump racism.
Taylor Townsend is THAT girl, handled it with grace and stood on business. Period. 🤏🏾🎾🤏🏾🎾
She didn’t apologize after a net ball. She did ‘nt NEED to apologize imo.
This whole “need to apologize after a net ball” is a sh*tty power move. It’s like demanding to hear that this one point came from something OTHER than being a better player, Like “see that guys? she admitted she was lucky not skillful, and she has already apologized to me.” NO. You don’t get to demand this. Net balls happen, it’s part of the sport and move on.
A white lady wants an apology for something ridiculous, totally tracks. You want me to apologise for beating you, too? Entitled people are exhausting.
“I’m not racist I just say racist sh@t” As a BW I knew exactly what she meant. She had been holding that in for awhile and is pissed that she lost to her again. Being a Karen and thinking you can gatekeep and tell someone they need to apologize and get mad because she didn’t bend to your will. I’m surprised she didn’t call her “uppity”.
I know about a MILLION 🇺🇸 Black American Women who would have thrown “bows” once that finga got in our face😡 #PetPeeve #TheAudacity
The way I was like “I can’t believe she didn’t just pop this b**** in the face.”
I was thinking the fine would be worth it knowing it’s probably my entire annual income. IDGAF
Yes, can we insert a “This is not 1965 anymore” meme here? Ostapenko knew exactly what she meant by her statement. But we don’t back down in 2025. We don’t just blindly accept racist Karen behavior. If she keeps it up, her face will eventually meet someone’s fist.
@ Lala11_7 I am one of them! I am looking at the USTA sideways again, because they allow a bit too much! She needs to be fined and suspended.
Yeah, when I saw that aggressive finger move, my brain took me back to a saying from my childhood: “Do that again — and you’ll draw back a nub”.
Ostapenko needs to stop! Players are not obligated to say sorry when a net ball goes their way.
I’ll say I’m sorry. Sorry that this Latvian used some very racially coded words because she was upset about being beaten by her Black opponent. As for Townsend being protected by her “homeland”, she must be joking. Black women are under attack every day in this country, starting in the Oval Office. I’m just surprised that Ostapenko wasn’t immediately invited to the White House to be feted by the felon who resides there.
I haven’t been following tennis much. It will be interesting to see what —if any — impact this has on Ostapenko’s endorsements. Maybe she’ll get invited to the Very White (and now tarted up with gold) House for burgers or something.
Townsend handled the situation like the champ that she is — but she shouldn’t have had to.
Question from a non-tennis person: Why does it seem like so many tennis players are petulant assholes? I feel like I hear about things like this, and screaming at officials, and racket-smashing meltdowns, from every major event! I’m not saying that athletes in other sports are necessarily more even-tempered or less toxic — it’s all competition, and obviously pros are bound to be passionate and get extra frustrated because there’s actual money and prestige on the line — but this “bratty 5-year-old” brand of tantrum seems particularly common in tennis.
As a fan and a (very amateur) player — tennis is as much a mental sport as physical – and the spotlight is 100% on the player.
if a soccer player or NFL player acts a fool – there are 20 other people on the field and other things going on — in tennis there’s just you. Off the top of my head I can’t think of another professional sport that compares — maybe boxing? But boxers aren’t on tour playing week after week under that level of pressure.
In short – I don’t think there are more assholes – they are just more noticeable because of the individual nature of the sport.
Do they act like this in golf? Track and field? Auto racing? Occasionally. But not to this extreme. I feel like tennis officials allow this more than other pro individual sports, maybe because it brings a lot of press.
COMPLETELY infuriating.
Jelena was revealing her whole ***, I wish there were fines and zero tolerance for being such a piece of garbage to the other players.
Crazy how she doubled-down instead of apologizing to Townsend. Unbelievable level of self-restraint on Taylor’s part.
Latvia has so few black people that they don’t even bother to record demographics by race so while gross, the racism isn’t entirely surprising.
GET YOUR TRIFLING RACIST A@# OUTTA HERE.
She should be fined for this.
Witnessed this real time. Jelena was downright nasty and acted just like a sore loser. Total brat behavior. I hope she gets RAKED publicly. And I hope she apologies to Taylor. But even if she does we know it won’t be genuine. Head up Taylor – looking forward to your next match!
Taylor has a whole lotta more class than me, that bitch would have lost that finger. But then again, I’m tired of racist assholes.
What is tennis going to do about this racist incident? Let me guess, not a damn thing!
The Russian word for “rude” is “nevospitannyj” which translated literally means “without education”. Without trying to excuse this woman, whom I don’t know and can’t vouch for, I do wonder if at least half of her offensive statement wasn’t partially lost in translation.
She’s LATVIAN not Russian. Two completely different languages.
this is what I have been *trying* to find words to explain for ages — as a WW, love that, it’s like the Wonder Woman logo, but as a white person, I can blend into the background, I can be anonymous, but oddly, the micro aggressions that hit me are not necessarily about race so much as rank. And I see the ways in which race seamlessly blends into rank. And it’s just one aspect of a social dynamic. Race is the most salient aspect of us-and-them. And European societies still tend to produce an insider / outsider dynamic that is not explicitly class based or race based but unmistakeable us-and-them, you tend to get status / rank issues, and it all passes under the guise of “education” or “culture” and what it really means is….. she’s not one of us. And for women — for whatever reason — this is particularly unforgiving. There’s more fixation on manners, etiquette, which ultimately just means petty point scoring. There’s more judgement. For men, it’s more basic, more common sense. There’s just more social policing of women’s behaviour, toward each other. And women are as guilty of this as men are. I find American black women are the ones who preserve their humanity best from this and cut through the BS. But white women absolutely take this tiny axe to each other. It’s just much more obvious when they try it on with black women, who push back. I think that was the Kate / Meghan dynamic, Kate probably pulled rank with a bunch of other white women and Meghan was just not having it. Good for her. Sorry for writing so much. Race is part of it, it’s actually the element that surfaces the rest of the iceberg.