Things got very heated between Taylor Townsend and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday afternoon at the US Open.
Townsend and Ostapenko, shortly after Townsend secured her win to make it into the third round, got into an exchange at the net that evolved into a shouting match. Townsend eventually shook the chair official's hand and walked away.
Townsend beat Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1 to grab the win. Ostapenko went up 5-3 in the first set before allowing Townsend to rally back with four straight games to take the early advantage. Townsend then won five straight games in the second set to cruise to the win. It marked her first major win over a top-25 opponent since 2023.
Townsend was asked to explain the exchange with Ostapenko after her win on ESPN, and it seems that things turned personal very fast between the two players.
“It’s competition, people get upset when they lose. Some people say bad things. She told me I have no class, I have no education, and to see what happens when we get outside the U.S.
“I’m looking forward to it. 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.”
Ostapenko addressed the situation on her Instagram story later on Wednesday.
"Today after the match, I 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," she wrote, in part. "There are some rules in tennis which most of the players follow, and it was the 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."
Townsend, who is the top-ranked doubles player, entered the U.S. Open at No. 139 in the world. She beat Ostapenko in straight sets at the National Bank Open in Toronto earlier this month to reach the quarterfinals of that event, too.
When it comes to doubles play, their rivalry is much more balanced. Townsend and her partner, Katerina Siniakova, beat Ostapenko and her partner, Barbora Krejčíková, in the final to win the Australian Open in January. They beat Ostapenko the next month at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, too, though Ostapenko and Krejčíková got the duo in the Wimbledon semifinals.
Both pairings are set to compete in the women’s doubles portion of the US Open, and could very well meet again, though it wouldn’t be until the final. Whether it’s in a few weeks, or later on elsewhere in the world, expect their next matchup to be just as heated as Wednesday's singles battle.
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