Jelena Ostapenko issues apology for on-court explosion, Taylor Townsend responds: ‘Said things that are hurtful’
Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend attempted to bury the hatchet with another round of interactions over social media and press conference.
The big conflict between Latvian tennis player Jelena Ostapenko and American star Taylor Townsend has been the talking point of the first week of the US Open. The pair of players had a big blowout at the conclusion of their match, and this bled over into comments during press conferences and social media.
Ostapenko had tried taking Townsend to task over her decision to not apologise for a net cord, beginning their conflict at the net, where the American player didn’t stand down and fired back arguments of her own. Ostapenko would continue with a tirade on social media, but with a couple of days having passed, Ostapenko took the time to admit her wrongs and apologise for not conveying her thoughts well.
Once again on her Instagram stories, Ostapenko wrote: “Hi all - I wanted to apologize for some of the things I said during my second-round singles match. English is not my native language, so when I said education, I was speaking only about what I believe as tennis etiquette, but I understand how the words I used could have offended many people beyond the tennis court.”
“I appreciate the support as I continue to learn and grow as a person and a tennis player. Goodbye New York and I look forward to being back next year,” concluded Ostapenko.
Her words were relayed to Townsend after the southpaw pulled off a phenomenal upset over world number five Mirra Andreeva. At the press conference, Townsend responded: “That’s nice that she apologised. That’s fine, that’s cool. At the end of the day I think it’s a learning lesson for her. Again, like I said, when everything first happened, you cannot push your expectations on other people.”
“She expected for me to react a certain type of way, and I didn't, and it infuriated her,” said Townsend. “Which led her to say things that are hurtful, that are belligerent, that are offensive, not only to me, but to the sport and to a whole culture of people that I try to do my best to represent the best that I can.”
“For me it’s nice that she apologised. It’s not the first, second, third, fourth, fifth time she got upset about a net cord, so not surprising she reacted that way, but we have to keep in mind that it’s a competition, playing a sport,” concluded the American player.
All in all, both players look happy to move past the incident and leave it in the past as a miscommunication. Townsend will play Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round in the singles, and has started her doubles tournament as the first seed alongside Katerina Siniakova with a pair of straightforward victories.
