NEW YORK (AP) — The postmatch back-and-forth between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko remained a topic of conversation at the U.S. Open 24 hours later on Thursday — but not for Ostapenko, who skipped speaking at a news conference, citing “medical reasons.”
Both Townsend, an American who is ranked No. 1 in doubles, and Ostapenko, a Latvian who won the 2017 French Open in singles, were back on court in separate doubles matches on Thursday. On Wednesday, they had an extended argument after shaking hands following Townsend’s victory over Ostapenko in singles — and Townsend, who is Black, said Ostapenko called her “uneducated.”
“Obviously, it’s one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority white sport,” said Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion whose father is from Haiti and mother is from Japan. “And granted, I know Taylor, and I know how hard she’s worked, and I know how smart she is, so she’s the furthest thing from uneducated or anything like that.”
When the subject initially was raised at Osaka’s news conference after her 6-3, 6-1 win over Hailey Baptiste in the second round, she said: “I saw that part, obviously. It’s been on the TV, like, every 15 minutes.”
As for Ostapenko, in particular, who has gotten into kerfuffles with opponents before, Osaka said: “I don’t think that’s the craziest thing she’s said. I’m going to be honest. I think it’s ill timing and the worst person you could have ever said it to. And I don’t know if (Ostapenko) knows the history of it in America. But I know she’s never going to say that ever again in her life. … It was just terrible. Like, that’s just really bad.”
Townsend was asked Wednesday whether she thought there were racial undertones to Ostapenko’s comments.
“I didn’t take it in that way, but also, you know, that has been a stigma in our community of being ‘not educated’ and all of the things, when it’s the furthest thing from the truth,” Townsend responded.
“So whether it had racial undertones or not, that’s something she can speak on,” Townsend said. “The only thing that I’m worried about right now is continuing to move forward through this tournament.”
Ostapenko posted on social media Wednesday that she had received many messages “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,” she wrote.
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