US Open 2025: Naomi Osaka comdemns Jelena Ostapenko's Taylor Townsend comments

Former world number one Naomi Osaka says that Jelena Ostapenko telling Taylor Townsend she had "no class" and "no education" was "one of the worst things you could say to a black tennis player".

Latvia's Ostapenko argued with Townsend after the American beat her 7-5 6-1 in the US Open second round on Wednesday.

Ostapenko, who claimed Townsend had not apologised after a net cord landed in her favour, has been criticised for her comments.

Townsend, an African-American, said she did not think there was a racial undertone to Ostapenko's comments, adding: "I didn't take it in that way, but also that has been a stigma in our community of being not educated, when it's the furthest thing from the truth."

Ostapenko, who won the French Open in 2017, denied any element of racism in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

Asked about the incident, Japan's four-time major champion Osaka said: "I think it's ill timing and the worst person you could have ever said it to.

"I don't know if she knows the history of it in America. But I know she's never going to say that ever again in her life. It was just terrible.

"I think obviously it's one of the worst things you can say to a black tennis player in a majority white sport.

"I know Taylor and I know how hard she's worked and I know how smart she is, so she's the furthest thing from uneducated or anything like that."

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