Taylor Townsend Opened U.S. Open Presser With Perfect Joke About Ostapenko Clash

Perfect one-liner.

Townsend defeated Ostapenko, the world No. 25, in straight sets. / U.S. Open

If you haven't heard by now, the biggest storyline to come out of the U.S. Open on Wednesday night was the viral and intense clash between Taylor Townsend and world No. 25 Jeļena Ostapenko of Latvia.

After Townsend won 7–5, 6–1, and as the pair met at the net, Ostapenko reportedly said something to Townsend about having "no class," "no education," and "to see what happens when we get outside the U.S." In videos of the moment, Townsend is shown arguing back with her opponent, but it's not clear what was said on her end.

Speaking with the press afterward, Townsend cheekily opened her availability with the perfect joke on the matter.

"Hi everybody!" she said as she walked in. "This is the type of day y'all live for," she then quipped, to a big roar of laughter from the room.

Watch that below:

Taylor Townsend walking into the US Open press room after her match with Ostapenko:

"Hi everybody! This is the type of day ya'll live for."

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/zJbX7cR6kv

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 28, 2025

She's got a point—there's nothing journalists love more than some good quotes on a testy interaction.

"I don't know how she feels about me, but there's no beef on my side," Townsend said, when asked to detail what happened. "She told me that I have no education, no class and to see what happens if we play each other outside of the U.S. And I said I'm excited. Bring it. I've never been the one to back down from anything like that, but I just thought that it was really interesting."

"I chalk that up to competition. I chalk it up to being upset," she continued. "She pulled out all the stops to try and break the momentum and sometimes people do that, but it is what it is. Still, [there is] no beef. But like you guys saw, I'm not going to back down because you're not going to insult me, especially after I carried myself a certain type of way with nothing but respect."

Townsend was still really complimentary of Ostapenko (who explained herself in a statement on Instagram) and her game, and said the Latvian star was playing "amazing," especially in the first set.

Next up, Townsend will play No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia in round three on Friday.

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