The row between American Taylor Townsend and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko over a net cord point and sorry has been the talk of US Open 2025 for the last couple of days. Japanese Naomi Osaka has now joined the debate on whether Ostapenko calling out Townsend was justified or not. Both the players involved, however, have spoken on the matter as well and have denied any racial undertone to the matter. The question of racism arose with Townsend being of African-American heritage and Ostapenko calling her ‘uneducated.’
Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko Row – What did Naomi Osaka say
Osaka acknowledged that it was the ‘worst thing’ to say whatever Ostapenko said and that too to a Black player. She, however, showed confidence in Ostapenko of not repeating her mistake ever again while agreeing that this is ‘not the craziest thing she has said’ given her history.
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“I mean, it’s really difficult to say. I think obviously it’s one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority White sport,” Osaka said while talking to reporters after her 6-3, 6-1 second round win over Hailey Baptiste.
Speaking on whether Townsend should have said sorry for the net cord or not, Osaka opined: “I think it’s up to the person whether they apologize or not, but if it’s really close, then I can see why they don’t apologize.”
What happened between Townsend and Ostapenko
The drama erupted after the match when the players shook hands after Townsend won. Ostapenko called her a person with ‘not education and no class’ for refusing to say sorry over the net cord point. Asked about the matter, Townsend said ‘she was happy on she handled the matter,’ but denied taking it in racial abuse manner.
Ostapenko, in an Instagram post of her own, also denied being racist in her comments.
AloJapan.com