NEW YORK: Naomi Osaka said using words like “no education” and “no class” to criticize a Black tennis player were among the worst things to say as the debate over a heated row between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko raged on at the US Open on Thursday. Townsend, who is Black, overcame 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1 in a tough second-round battle a day earlier. But the real tension came shortly after match point, when the pair verbally dueled at the net, with the Latvian repeatedly wagging her finger at the American.

Taylor Townsend says Jelena Ostapenko told her she has "no class" and "no education" after the American beat her in the US Open second round.

“She told me I have no class," Townsend said in an on-court interview after her 7-5, 6-1 victory.