Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend were involved in one of the most heated altercations at this year’s US Open so far.
After only four days of the 2025 US Open getting underway, there have already been some dramatic moments, including Daniil Medvedev’s huge outburst in his first round exit.
It was now time for the women’s singles draw to take centre stage in terms of drama, after doubles world number one Taylor Townsend beat former Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko.
This was a big victory for the singles career of Townsend, before things really boiled over after Ostapenko showcased her disapproval at something her opponent had done during the match.
Andy Roddick calls Jelena Ostapenko hypocritical after altercation with Taylor Townsend
Townsend beat Ostapenko, 7-5 6-1, to reach the third round of the US Open, but her opponent was far from happy for her.
As both players went to shake hands, it was clear that Ostapenko was not happy about something and made a comment towards Townsend, before things started to get really heated.
Ostapenko appeared to be frustrated about Townsend not apologising for a point she won when the ball hit the top of the net cord, which is something that players usually do.
Townsend then told the on-court reporter that Ostapenko told her that she has ‘no class’ and ‘no education’.
There has been a huge reaction to this incident, with former US Open champion Andy Roddick now having his say.
Roddick has not held back on his opinions, and has been hugely critical of Ostapenko, who he has suggested has no room to be critical of other players’ behaviour.
“Let’s level set here. I like meltdowns. I think they are entertaining,” Roddick said on his Served podcast. “I had meltdowns so I can’t criticise someone for a meltdown, which is my point.
“You try not to be a complete hypocrite about things. There is no chance if Meddy [Medvedev] was on this podcast next week, that he would go ‘that guy overreacts to the crowd when it doesn’t go his way’.
He makes mistakes and is pretty sober in thought later. He is imperfect, he will admit he is imperfect and will be like ‘I just go nuts’.
“Ostapenko lecturing someone about class on a tennis court is like me lecturing someone about trying everything they can to stop losing their hair! It’s like the heights of hypocrisy and that bothers me.
“If you have that opinion that you want to lecture someone about sportsmanship, I have a suggestion, start looking people in the eye when you shake their hands. Let’s start with that. And then about 15 steps later you can criticise someone for not saying sorry on a let cord.”
Jelena Ostapenko responds to backlash on social media
Roddick is not the only person who has been critical of Ostapenko, with the Latvian receiving huge backlash on social media and beyond.
After the incident, Ostapenko has released a statement on social media to tell her side of the story.
On her Instagram story, Ostapenko did not back down from her previous frustration about the net cord and actually explained that she was also annoyed about how Townsend conducted herself in the warm-up as well.
Ostapenko wrote, “Just a small update about the match. 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.
“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 she can behave and do whatever she wants.”
She added, “In the beginning of the match all players are supposed to start warm up on the baseline. The opponent came out and straight away started the warm up at the [net] which is very disrespectful and against the rules of a tennis match.”
As Ostapenko now exits the US Open singles draw, Townsend will look ahead to her third round match against fifth seed Mirra Andreeva.
There is also still the possibility that Ostapenko and Townsend could go head-to-head again in New York, but both players would have to reach the final of the US Open women’s doubles tournament.
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