Wednesday evening (Aug. 27), after a crushing loss at the U.S. Open, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko proved that she was a real loser by deciding to hurl thinly veiled racist insults at her opponent, the winner, and a Black woman, Taylor Townsend. After Townsend’s win, she proceeded to shake Ostapenko’s hand, but without the customary, not regulatory, apology that is accompanied by winning a tennis match due to a net ball. A net ball is essentially a ball that hits the net, and because hitting the net changes the speed and possible direction of a ball, it is difficult for the opponent to return the hit. The apology is more of a sign of politeness rather than a sincerity, and Townsend, who would’ve won regardless, aired on the side of being real.
Subsequently, Ostapenko demanded a fake apology from Townsend, causing Townsend to respond that she didn’t owe Ostapenko an apology, setting Ostapenko off into an even more pungent shit-spiral.
According to Townsend, during the exchange, Ostapenko told her that she had “no class,” and “no education and to see what happens when we get outside the U.S.” The agony of defeat probably made Ostapenko forget about her loss to Townsend in Toronto, which is outside the U.S., just a year ago. While Townsend and her partner, Katerina Siniakova, are ranked number 1 together in doubles, Townsend’s highest single’s ranking has been 46, while Ostapenko’s has been 5, so that could possibly be why she’s so salty. When your sense of self is comforted by the notion that even your worst is better than Black people, giving your best, and not getting the desired result, is jarring for people who believe in Black inferiority.
During the exchange, the one accused of not having class responded to the LOSER, “whatever you want to say, but you can learn how to take a loss better. ‘Thank you so much. Great job. Great play. However, Ostapenko’s apology tour has already gotten off to a rocky start when she responded to the backlash via Instagram, digging deeper into the clay of her despair and lack of class.
“Today after the match I told my opponent that she was very disrespectful as she had a net ball in a very deciding moment and didn’t say sorry, but her answer was that she doesn’t have to say sorry at all. There are some rules in tennis which most of the players follow and it was first time ever that this happened to me on tour. If she plays in her homeland it doesn’t mean that she can behave and do whatever she wants.”
While tennis may be a rich person’s sport, being a tennis champion doesn’t require a master’s degree. Ostapenko’s jabs are plain and simple, coded language. Berating someone because you lost, and then telling them they lack class, is certainly a bold choice, but referencing her having no education is even harder to explain away. From Althea, to Serena, to Venus, Naomi, Coco and Taylor. Black women have come into the sport of tennis and have been kicking ass and taking names. When you have established yourself as the standard of class and poise, anything that offends you is beneath that standard.
Tradition be damned, Ostapenko wanted Townsend to grovel after her win, and Townsend took that away from her, leaving Ostapenko’s chances of winning the U.S. Open officially U.S. Closed.
