Taylor Townsend has marched through to the third round of the US Open following a highly-charged match against Jelena Ostapenko.
Ostapenko was criticised by Andy Roddick for her performance at the end of her defeat with Townsend when the two players had a spat on court.
Aryna Sabalenka defended Ostapenko after the match, which saw Townsend set up a third-round date with Mirra Andreeva.
Townsend added fuel to the fire with an Instagram message, and it would appear that the two players won’t exchange Christmas pleasantries any time soon.
The incident has marred the US Open somewhat, with Ben Shelton unhappy with the claims that Ostapenko threw at Townsend during their match.
After the argument, Townsend has been quizzed on whether the player should now be thrown out of the doubles competition that she plans to play in with Barbora Krejcikova.
Taylor Townsend shares whether Jelena Ostapenko should be kicked out of the doubles
It would be a little bit of an odd situation if Ostapenko was defaulted from the doubles event before a ball was served.
That said, if the US Open powers that be deem what she has said to be severe enough, then perhaps a decision will need to be made.
Townsend said in her press conference: “Yeah, it’s sports! I feel like people have gotten a little bit soft. I am not going to lie. It’s sports!
People talk trash, people say things and people get mad. Everyone has a right to feel how they feel.
“The problem is, is don’t push your expectations on me. If you expect someone to apologise and they don’t and you get upset about it, that’s your fault, not mine.
“At the end of the day, I was honestly shocked that it was a net cord, because I was ready to play the point, so she was standing at the net afterwards, after she missed the shot. But this isn’t anything new; let’s not act like this is new. It’s not.
“People know this is the MO, so all the stops were pulled out. This isn’t the first, second, third or fourth time that I have played Jelena, so if she is complaining about how I warm up, that’s fine. Everyone knows this is something that I do. You can go back to the time that I played my first ever pro tennis match and I’ve been doing this since juniors, so it wasn’t anything targeted towards her to try and take her off of her game or rhythm, I was just doing my thing.
“So I honestly laugh at it. I think it’s comical and I think it’s kind of funny because then to go online and have to justify what you said, you obviously feel some type of way and feel like you have to give an explanation for how you acted.
“I don’t feel like I have to explain how I acted, I think it was very self-explanatory so I’m standing by what I said.”
How Jelena Ostapenko compares to Taylor Townsend in doubles
The really intriguing thing here is that Townsend is also in the Women’s Doubles alongside Katerina Siniakova.
Townsend managed to win the Women’s Doubles at Wimbledon in 2024 with Siniakova, and the pair were also victorious at the Australian Open this year.
The impressive duo are the number one seeds at the US Open, with Ostapenko and Krejcikova unseeded as a new pairing.
| Taylor Townsend | Jelena Ostapenko | |
| Wins | 266 | 270 |
| Losses | 99 | 169 |
| Career Titles | 10 | 11 |
| Highest Ranking | 1 | 3 |
| Current Ranking | 1 | 3 |
The Latvian does have a history when it comes to doubles, though and last year she managed to win the US Open Women’s Doubles alongside Ukrainian player Lyudmyla Kichenok.
Now, there is added spice when it comes to Ostapenko and Townsend and provided the former isn’t kicked out, there could be a real crowd should the two pairings come up against each other in doubles at Flushing Meadows.
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