Jelena Ostapenko apologizes for Taylor Townsend ‘no education’ comments

Tennis

U.S. Open

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Jelena Ostapenko has apologized for her U.S. Open altercation with Taylor Townsend, in which she told Townsend that she had “no education.” Townsend, who is Black, also told ESPN that Ostapenko had said she had “no class.”

In a statement on social media Saturday, three days removed from the incident, Ostapenko wrote that she wanted “to apologize for some of the things” she said during the second round singles match. The statement did not name or directly refer to Townsend, who beat the No. 25 seed 7-5, 6-1. Ostapenko went on to say that her comments referred to tennis manners, rather than anything broader.

“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,” she wrote.