What happened between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko? Tennis stars clash at the US Open 

American tennis star Taylor Townsend recently landed in a heated argument with Latvian tennis player Jelena Ostapenko. According to People, the 29-year-old was involved in an altercation with Ostapenko after their second-round match at the US Open on August 27, 2025. Following their match, which Taylor Townsend won 7-5, 6-1, right after shaking hands with Ostapenko, both of them appeared to be in a verbal exchange.

The dispute began when the 28-year-old Ostapenko asked Taylor Townsend to apologize for one of her shots that cut the top of the net, which is called a net cord, as per The Athletic. Townsend, whose third-round match is against Russian tennis player Mirra Andreeva on August 29, 2025, was seen in a video shared by ESPN saying, “No, I don’t have to say sorry.” In the clip, Ostapenko appeared to point her finger at Taylor.

Ostapenko is seen in the clip shaking her head throughout the exchange with Townsend. Then Jelena can be seen telling Townsend, “You have no education,” three times. During an interview with ESPN after the match, Taylor Townsend said:

"People get upset when they lose. Some people say bad things."

The winner of two major doubles titles — at the 2025 Australian Open and the 2024 Wimbledon Championships — Taylor Townsend, revealed that Jelena told her:

She has "no class, I have no education and to see what happens when we get outside the U.S., so I'm looking forward to it. "

Townsend further added:

"I mean, I beat her in Canada, outside the U.S. I beat her in New York [inside] the U.S., so let's see what else she has to say."

Speaking to ESPN after the match, Townsend commented on Ostapenko’s behavior, saying:

"I chalk it up to being upset and, you know, she pulled out all the stops to try and break the momentum. Sometimes people do that, but it is what it is."

She continued and said:

"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."

Jelena Ostapenko, following the altercation with Taylor Townsend, addressed the matter in a social media post

Ostapenko, while claiming that Townsend was “very disrespectful,” shared her opinion on the whole matter in a long Instagram post. The Latvian tennis star, who is world No. 3 in doubles, said about Townsend in an Instagram Story:

"Her answer was that she doesn't have to say sorry at all. There are some rules of 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."

Ostapenko also complained about Townsend not practicing at the baseline. During the ESPN interview, Townsend took the opportunity to address what Ostapenko had to say about her. Taylor said:

"This isn't the first, second, third, fourth time I've played Jelena, so if she's complaining about how I warm up, that's fine."

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She further added:

"Everyone knows this isn't — 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 even juniors. It wasn't anything targeted towards her to try and take her off of her game or her rhythm. You know, I just was doing my thing."

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