Ostapenko said her anger stemmed from Townsend\u2019s refusal to apologise after winning point at pivotal moment
\n NEW YORK
\nNaomi Osaka said using words like \u201cno education\u201d and \u201cno class\u201d to criticise a Black tennis player were among the worst things to say, as debate raged over a heated row between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko at the US Open on Thursday.
\nTownsend, who is Black, overcame 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko 7-5 6-1 in a tough second-round battle a day earlier, but the real tension came shortly after match point when the pair verbally clashed at the net, with the Latvian repeatedly wagging her finger at the American.
\nTownsend revealed part of the exchange during her on-court interview, after which she said in a press conference that Ostapenko would have to answer if there were \u201cracial undertones\u201d to the altercation.
\nOstapenko said on Instagram later that her anger stemmed from Townsend\u2019s refusal to apologise after winning a point at a pivotal moment when her ball clipped the net and stayed in play, accusing the American of being \u201cdisrespectful\u201d.
\nThe Latvian added in another statement that she had never been racist in her life, but Osaka weighed in, saying the words Ostapenko used during the altercation were in bad taste.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority White sport,\u201d four-times Grand Slam champion Osaka said.
\n\u201cI know Taylor and I know how hard she\u2019s worked and I know how smart she is, so she\u2019s the furthest thing from uneducated or anything like that.\u201d
\nOsaka, born to a Japanese mother and Haitian father, has been an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement both in the United States, where she lives, and in Japan. She was lauded for supporting the campaign during her run to the Flushing Meadows title in 2020.
\nThe 27-year-old used her platform to highlight racial injustice in the United States to a wider audience by wearing different black face masks \u2013 each bearing the name of an African American killed in recent years \u2013 before each of her seven matches.
\n\u201cIf you\u2019re genuinely asking me about the history of Ostapenko, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the craziest thing she\u2019s said. I\u2019m going to be honest,\u201d Osaka continued with a smile.
\n\u201cI think it was ill-timed and said to the worst possible person. And I don\u2019t know if she knows the history of it in America.
\n\u201cI know she\u2019s never going to say that ever again in her life. But yeah, it was just terrible. That\u2019s really bad.\u201d
\nTurning to the main cause of the controversy, Osaka said she would not care if an opponent apologised or not for a net cord.
\n\u201cI definitely wouldn\u2019t care to the point where it would affect me so much that I got very angry,\u201d Osaka said.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s up to the person whether they apologise or not, but if it\u2019s really close, I can see why they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ostapenko said her anger stemmed from Townsend\u2019s refusal to apologise after winning point at pivotal moment NEW YORK Naomi Osaka said using words like \u201cno education\u201d and \u201cno class\u201d to criticise a Black tennis player were among the worst things to say, as debate raged over a heated row between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-499955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n