Ousted, Ostapenko exchanges verbal volleys with Townsend

New York: US Open opponents Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko got into a face-to-face argument on the Court 11 sideline right after Townsend won their second-round match 7-5 6-1 on Wednesday.

Townsend, an American who is ranked No. 1 in doubles, said Ostapenko, a Latvian, who won the 2017 French Open, told her she has “no class” and “no education.”

A reporter asked Townsend, who is Black, whether she thought there were racial undertones to those comments.

“I didn’t take it in that way, but also, you know, that has been a stigma in our community of being not educated’ and all of the things, when it’s the furthest thing from the truth,” Townsend responded. So whether it had racial undertones or not, that’s something she can speak on,” Townsend said. “The only thing that I’m worried about right now is continuing to move forward through this tournament.”

Ostapenko later posted on social media about “how many messages I received that I am a racist.”

“I was NEVER racist in my life and I respect all nations of people in the world. For me it doesn’t matter where you come from,” she wrote.

Carlos Alcaraz’s accidental buzz cut is moving on at the US Open thanks to an easy-as-can-be victory in the second round Wednesday night, a year after he lost at that stage in the Grand Slam tournament.

The No. 2-seeded Alcaraz — who shaved his head after his brother messed up his hair — needed a little more than 1 1/2 hours to beat 65th-ranked Mattia Bellucci of Italy 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Alcaraz never faced a break point and accumulated a 32-11 advantage in winners. All in all, a far cry from what happened in the second round at Flushing Meadows in 2024.

“Yeah, I played great, to be honest,” said Alcaraz, who earned the first of his five Grand Slam titles at the U.S. Open in 2022. “Today wasn’t his day. I tried to make the most

of his mistakes.”