Taylor Townsend, the current WTA world No. 1 in women’s doubles, saw her solid start to the US Open continue Wednesday.
Townsend, who defeated Antonia Ruzic in the first round of the major, then beat 25th-ranked Jelena Ostapenko in consecutive sets, 7-5 and 6-1. But it was what followed the Townsend vs. Ostapenko match that got even more attention.
Ostapenko, a Latvian star who won the 2017 French Open, got into an altercation with Townsend as the two exchanged some words on the court. On the TV broadcast, Townsend then revealed what Ostapenko allegedly said to her.
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Here’s what to know about Wednesday’s altercation between Townsend and Ostapenko.
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Taylor Townsend- Jelena Ostapenko US Open confrontation
Townsend upset Ostapenko in quick fashion Wednesday, with the American seeking her furthest singles run at the US Open, or any major, since 2019 when she made it to the fourth round.
As the two tennis stars went to shake hands following the match, it became apparent that they weren’t exchanging kind words. Ostapenko appeared to say something that Townsend didn’t like, and they went back-and-forth for some time before Townsend walked away and started pumping up the crowd.
Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko got in a heated interaction after their second round match at the US Open.
Townsend is on to the third round. pic.twitter.com/cOIYzoyfmG
— ESPN (@espn) August 27, 2025
Here’s another angle of the interaction:
😭👏 Townsend to Ostapenko:
“You can learn how to take a loss better” pic.twitter.com/L0m5GGAVC6
— Olly Tennis 🎾🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) August 27, 2025
Townsend’s interview with ESPN following the incident helped provide some insight into what the two were arguing about.
“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.,” Townsend told ESPN. “I’m looking forward to it. I mean, I beat her in Canada, outside the U.S.”
After a heated second round match at the US Open, American Taylor Townsend calls out her opponent, Latvian Jelena Ostapenko:
“She told me I have no class, I have no education, and to see what happens when we get outside the U.S.” pic.twitter.com/FikAWiitcO
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 27, 2025
While the win marked Townsend’s first victory against a top-25 opponent since 2023, it also certainly resulted in some controversy afterwards.
Ostapenko then took to Instagram after the match, writing on social media that she “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 that 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.”
Ostapenko also added on Instagram that Townsend allegedly began her warm up before the match “straight away” which was “very disrespectful and against the rules of a tennis match,” and that she would “come back stronger” from the loss.
Per the AP, Ostapenko has a history of incidents during matches, including in 2021 when she lost to Alja Tomljanovic at Wimbledon. Tomljanovic allegedly accused Ostapenko of lying about needing to leave the court for a medical timeout.
Emotions were running high between Townsend and Ostapenko on Wednesday, but with her win, Townsend advanced to face either Anastasia Potapova or No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva in the third round.
