The US Open saw some drama on Wednesday as Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko were involved in a heated exchange following their second-round match, which Townsend won 7–5, 6–1. The incident caught the attention of players and fans alike, and Ben Shelton weighed in on the situation.
After the match, the players had a tense encounter at the net during the customary post-match handshake. Ostapenko accused Townsend of being “very disrespectful” for not apologizing after a net-cord winner on a crucial point and for failing to follow standard warm-up procedures.
Shelton, Townsend’s mixed doubles partner at the tournament, spoke after his straight-sets win over Pablo Carreño Busta. He admitted he didn’t fully understand everything that had happened but said Ostapenko’s reaction in front of a New York crowd may not have been the best approach.
“Yeah, I didn’t completely hear or understand everything that happened,” Shelton told the press. “Yeah, I guess some shocking comments towards her. Not the smartest thing to say to an American in New York City, but she handled her business”.
Even though he wasn’t fully aware of the details, Shelton made it clear he was backing Townsend, with whom he recently reached the mixed doubles quarterfinals before falling to Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva.
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“Always gonna back Taylor. I don’t know exactly what happened during the match, but just happy for her that she’s, you know, making a run and in the singles draw, we didn’t do what we wanted to do in the mix. So she’s definitely making up for it. And like she said, after the match, she spoke with a racket and yeah, just happy to see her winning,” he added.
Frances Tiafoe weighs in
World No. 17 Frances Tiafoe also commented on the heated exchange between Townsend and Ostapenko at the US Open, but unlike his compatriot Shelton, “Big Foe” did not take sides.
Tiafoe admitted he wasn’t fully aware of the details of the altercation but emphasized that there’s no need to escalate conflict after a loss. He did, however, congratulate Townsend on advancing to the next round.
“I mean, I can’t speak too much to it, but I don’t like… no need to go there. If you lost, you lost. Keep pushing,” Tiafoe told reporters after his second-round victory. “I got to see the video. I don’t know what really happened. But I mean, no reason to ever go there. Keep it about tennis. When I see the video, maybe next time around I’ll have something more to say, but shout-out to Taylor, good job”.
