World No. 24 Naomi Osaka commented on an incident between Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko (26) and American Taylor Townsend (No. 139) that happened after their second-round match at the US Open 2025.
After losing, Ostapenko called Townsend out for disrespectful behavior. Townsend in turn said the Latvian accused her of having “no class” and “no education”.
Naomi Osaka, quoted by CNN
I think obviously it’s one of the worst things you can say to a black tennis player in a majority white sport. If you’re genuinely asking me about the history of Ostapenko, I don’t think that’s the craziest thing she’s said. I think it’s ill-timing and the worst person you could have ever said it to. It was just terrible.
The match lasted 1 hour 18 minutes and ended 7–5, 6–1 in favor of the American.
In the next round Taylor Townsend will face Russian Mirra Andreeva, ranked No. 5 in the world.
