Taylor Townsend disregarded Jelena Ostapenko’s public apology with a pointy response on the US Open, holding her deal with tennis whereas an issue over alleged racist remarks continues to swirl.

“I’m still playing. So I don’t have time to be tapped in on what she’s got going on and what she says,” Townsend said after her doubles victory with Kateřina Siniaková.

“I had a job to do today. Got it done in the doubles. Like I said, this is part of it, right, being able to disconnect from whatever is happening on the outside, because I have a goal while I’m here. So I haven’t seen anything. I didn’t know, I don’t know what she said. But I’m still here. So I’m glad that she has the time to be able to do that.”

The rigidity between the 2 gamers started after Townsend defeated Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1 within the second spherical of the 2025 US Open.

Ostapenko took concern with Townsend not acknowledging a web wire level and accused her of missing “class” and “education” throughout a tense post-match alternate on the web.

Townsend later revealed Ostapenko additionally advised her, “see what happens when we get outside the U.S.,” a remark that raised eyebrows and drew criticism from throughout the tennis world. “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,” Townsend stated.

Ostapenko initially defended her outburst on social media, citing tennis etiquette as the basis of her frustration.

But after backlash—together with from Naomi Osaka, who known as the remarks “among the worst things you can say to a Black player”—Ostapenko issued a proper apology.

“English is not my native language, so when I said education, I was speaking only about what I believe as tennis etiquette, but I understand how the words I used could have offended many people beyond the tennis court,” Ostapenko wrote on Instagram.

She additionally denied being racist, writing, “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.”

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Townsend, nevertheless, remained targeted on her efficiency, selecting to not dwell on the apology or the social media fallout.

She acknowledged that being known as “uneducated” carries a deeper which means in her neighborhood, although she stopped in need of labeling Ostapenko’s feedback as racially motivated.

The incident has fueled broader conversations about race, respect and etiquette in tennis, particularly in a sport the place Black girls stay underrepresented.

Townsend and Siniaková superior in doubles play on Saturday, holding her match run alive because the controversy continues to echo off the courtroom.

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