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Aryna Sabalenka Defends Jelena Ostapenko Amid U.S. Open Controversy

Ostapenko had a tense exchange with Taylor Townsend after the latter defeated her in straight sets Wednesday.

Tim Capurso

Sabalenka won her second round US Open match in straight sets on Wednesday.
Sabalenka won her second round US Open match in straight sets on Wednesday. / Mike Frey-Imagn Images

A bit of a controversy emerged at the U.S. Open on Wednesday following a second round match between world No. 26 Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend, in which Townsend pulled off a straight set upset before the two had a tense post-match exchange at the net.

Ostapenko later accused Townsend of breaching one of the unwritten rules of tennis etiquette, where players are supposedly meant to apologize if a winning ball clips the net.

"It's competition, people get upset when they lose," Townsend said after the match. "Some people say bad things. She told me I have no class, I have no education and to see what happens when we get outside the U.S."

So, given Ostapenko's loss and less-than-gracious reaction to the defeat, she's understandably catching a fair amount of flak from tennis fans. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, no stranger to receiving backlash from fans for her own past reaction to a match loss, addressed the situation after her second round victory over Veronika Kudermetova.

"I actually spoke to Jelena after the match, but during our conversation I didn't know what happened," Sabalenka said. "Well, I have to say that she's nice. She just can sometimes lose control. She has some things in life to face and some struggles, so I was just trying to help her to—not like face it more in a mature way, but I was just trying to help her to settle down—and someone she could speak to and let it go.

"I think she can just sometimes lose control over her emotions, which is pretty tough, and I really hope that one day she will figure out herself and she will handle it much better."

When a reporter asked if Sabalenka believed something off the court was affecting Ostapenka, the world No. 1 confirmed that she believed that to be the case.

"...I'm pretty sure that looking back, she's not happy with her behavior," Sabalenka said.

Sabalenka, a three-time major winner, has been in Ostapenko's shoes earlier this year, as she came under fire after she less-than-graciously handled her loss in the French Open final to Coco Gauff. She had since apologized and said she has learned from the moment. Judging by her mature and empathetic approach with Ostapenko, that seems to be the case.

Hopefully, Ostapenko will follow a similar path.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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