Aryna Sabalenka Reveals Conversation With Jelena Ostapenko After her US Open Meltdown Against Taylor Townsend

Aryna Sabalenka has revealed that she reached out to Jelena Ostapenko after her heated exchange with Taylor Townsend in their second-round clash at the US Open, offering support after a difficult moment between the duo. The World No.1 had just claimed her spot in the third round of the New York Grand Slam before making those statements.

The heated argument between Ostapenko and Townsend unfolded on Court 11 on Wednesday (August 27) at the US Open. Townsend stunned the 25th seed 7-5, 6-1 in the second round but after their routine post-match handshake, both players got into a fierce exchange. Ostapenko confronted the American star about what she viewed as unsportsmanlike behavior before their match started.

The argument then drew noise from the crowd as they rallied behind Townsend, who stirred for their support in the end. However, the fallout of their clash quickly spread off the court after Townsend revealed during her on-court interview that Ostapenko called her “classless” and “uneducated“.

A few minutes later, Ostapenko then defended her actions on the court on Instagram, revealing that the American star behaved disrespectfully by starting her warm-up at the net before their encounter. She added that Townsend didn’t apologize for the net-cord winner during their match, which has received varying opinions from fans on social media.

Sabalenka, fresh off her win against Polina Kudermetova, revealed in her press conference that she spoke with Ostapenko but didn’t know what transpired between the Latvian star and Townsend. She added that Ostapenko completely lost control of her nerves and emotions after the heated argument:

I spoke with Jelena after the match, and despite that, I still don’t know what happened. She is a nice girl, but she loses control of her nerves too often. What I tried to do was help her calm down and face the situation with maturity, to show myself as someone she could talk to, but she had completely lost control of her emotions. I don’t know, it’s tough. I just hope that one day she realizes what is happening, I think she has problems in her life, dealing with difficulties unrelated to tennis that make her an unstable person.