An unpleasant situation happened at the US Open after the match between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko, where the American player, ranked 143 in the world, defeated Latvian player Ostapenko, former World No. 5, now ranked 27, 5-7, 1-6. When both players went to the net to shake hands, a tense argument started: the Latvian accused Townsend of not apologising when she won a point by clipping the top of the net.
"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," Ostapenko said in a social media post.
"There are some rules in 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."
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It is common courtesy of tennis players to apologise when they win a point with the ball hitting the net, as it becomes unreachable to the rival. Townsend did not apologise in the moment, and when Ostapenko reproached her, the American told her to "take the L".
In her press conference, Townsend said that "Saying I have no education and no class, I don't really take that personally, because I know that it's so far from the truth", and was asked if she though there were racist connotations in 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."
Later, the Latvian said in another post that she is not 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 rules in tennis and unfortunately when the crowd is with you, you can't use it in a disrespectful way to your opponent. Unfortunately for me, coming from such a small country, I don't have that huge support and a chance to play in (my) homeland."