Taylor Townsend has insisted she was right to call out Jelena Ostapenko for her “bull***” and speak up for “my culture” after their clash at the US Open. And the Black American claimed: “I feel like in society, especially people of colour, we are expected to be silenced”.
The Estonian telling the world doubles No.1 that she had “no class” and “no education” after her second round win has been the talk of New York.
Naomi Osaka, who has a Haitian father, claimed the racially-charged insults were “just terrible” and “really bad”. The world No.1 added: “I think obviously it’s one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority White sport.”
Townsend, 29, returned to court to win her doubles match with her Czech partner Katerina Siniakova on the packed out Grandstand.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had that many people watch the first round doubles for me ever in my life,” she said.
The American had said she wanted to make her young son Adyn Aubrey proud by keeping composed when Ostapenko confronted her at the net.
And in her post-match press conference yesterday, Townsend insisted: “It’s okay to be unapologetically yourself. It’s okay to stand up for yourself. It’s okay to stand up and call people out for the bullshit. I’m sorry to say. But sometimes, and I feel like in society, especially people of colour, we are expected to be silenced.
“Or sometimes there are times where we have to decide and be very strategic as to when we speak up. And in these types of moments, it’s important for me to speak up, not only for myself, but for my culture.
“And like I said in my press conference yesterday, I carry that and I take it very seriously, not only by the words that I speak and the things that I say, but how I carry myself and my actions as well. So no matter what, no matter what attention comes or whatever, I think it’s about being unapologetic to yourself, be happy in who you are, and never allow anyone to take you out of your character and who you are as a person. Integrity is very important to me. That’s something that I preach, even to my son. And so for me, I don’t take that lightly at all.”
Townsend said she had not heard from Ostapenko – who did not speak after her doubles defeat due to “medical reasons” – but had received support from fellow pros.
The Estonian has a reputation for difficult behaviour and the American revealed: “Anyone and everyone that I’ve spoken to obviously said that it was disrespectful. And you know, even the mannerisms of her hand pointing at my face, like I’m a child, like I’m a child, and, you know, like, just the things that she was saying, you know, everyone said that it was like, you know, just it was bad behavior, and you know, it was also very hypocritical, you know, I mean, she’s not known to have sportsmanship, and you don’t have the best code of conduct. So to try and call me out on something that you don’t even do yourself is crazy.
“I felt like I handled the situation very gracefully, and I’m really proud of the way that I handled it. I’ve gotten so much love and support from so many people.
“I wasn’t looking for it, but it was external validation. It’s unfortunate that is this type of cause, but it really kind of brought some really cool live light and viewership to the US Open. I don’t think that the people behind the scenes are, oo upset about that. They’ve got a lot of a lot of press, and it’s been good support for me. So hopefully there are a lot of people that are going to come out now.”
Ostapenko posted on social media Wednesday that she had received many messages “that I am a racist”. The Estonian wrote: “I was NEVER racist in my life and I respect all nations of people in the world. For me it doesn’t matter where you come from.”
