By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Naomi Osaka said using words like “no education” and “no class” to criticise a Black tennis player were among the worst things to say as the debate over a heated row between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko raged on at the U.S. Open on Thursday.
Townsend, who is Black, overcame 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko 7-5 6-1 in a tough second-round battle a day earlier but the real tension came shortly after match point when the pair verbally duelled at the net, with the Latvian repeatedly wagging her finger at the American.
Townsend revealed a part of the exchange during her on-court interview, after which she said in a press conference that Ostapenko would have to answer if there were “racial undertones” to the altercation.
Ostapenko said on Instagram later that her anger stemmed from Townsend’s refusal to apologise after winning a point at a pivotal moment when her ball clipped the net and stayed in play, as she accused the American of being “disrespectful”.
The Latvian added in another statement that she had never been racist in her life, but Osaka weighed in saying the words Ostapenko used during the altercation were in bad taste.
“It’s one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority White sport,” four-times Grand Slam champion Osaka said.
“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.”
Osaka, born to a Japanese mother and Haitian father, has been an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement both in the United States, where she resides, and in Japan and was lauded for supporting the campaign during her run to the Flushing Meadows title in 2020.
The 27-year-old had used her platform to highlight racial injustice in the United States to a wider audience by wearing a different black face mask — each bearing the name of an African American who had been killed in recent years — before each one of her seven matches.
“If you’re like genuinely asking me about the history of Ostapenko, I don’t think that’s the craziest thing she’s said. I’m going to be honest,” Osaka continued with a smile.
“I think it’s ill timing and the worst person you could have ever said it to. And I don’t know if she knows the history of it in America.
“I know she’s never going to say that ever again in her life. But yeah, it was just terrible. That’s just really bad.”
Shifting her attention to the main cause of the controversy, Osaka said that she would not care if an opponent apologised or not for a net cord.
“I definitely wouldn’t care to the point where it would affect me that much that I get very angry,” Osaka said.
“It’s up to the person whether they apologise or not, but if it’s really close, I can see why they don’t apologise.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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