Professional tennis player Jelena Ostapenko has attacked her opponent unseeded American, Taylor Townsend following her defeat at the US Open.
Townsend defeated the 25th-seeded Russian Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1.
After the defeat, Ostapenko accused Taylor Townsend of lacking “class” during a furious on-court confrontation between the two players after their second-round match at the US Open.
Townsend at one point said “I don’t have to do anything” to Ostapenko, who repeatedly pointed at her opponent.
Townsend eventually walked away and shook the chair umpire’s hand and proceeded to whip the crowd into a frenzy.
“She told me I have no education, no class, and to see what happens if we play each other outside of the US,” Townsend told reporters after the match.
She added: “I said, I’m excited, bring it. I’ve never been the one to back down from anything like that. I just thought that it was really interesting.
“There’s no beef. But again, like you guys saw, I didn’t back down because you’re not going to insult me, especially after I carried myself a certain type of way with nothing but respect.
“If I show respect to you, I expect respect as well. That’s just the fact of the matter … it was unfortunate, but, you know, it’s something I can put on my TikTok.
“The thing I’m the most proud of is that I let my racket talk. Because ultimately, I’m the one here sitting in front of you guys moving on to the next round, getting the next cheque, moving on … and that’s what’s the most important.
“She’s packed up and she’s gone. I’m here, and that’s the only thing that matters.”
Ostapenko said in a post on Instagram that she had been angered by Townsend’s failure to acknowledge a net cord in her favour during the match.
The 28-year-old also accused Townsend of breaching etiquette by starting her pre-match warm-up at 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,” Ostapenko wrote.
“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.”
Watch the incident in the video below.
