New York : Naomi Osaka has criticised Jelena Ostapenko’s choice of words in her heated post-match altercation with Taylor Townsend at the U.S. Open, calling them “one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority White sport”.

“It’s one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority White sport,” the four-time Grand Slam champion 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.”

Townsend defeated 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1 in a tense second-round clash, but the spotlight quickly shifted to a verbal exchange at the net. Ostapenko, visibly agitated, repeatedly wagged her finger at Townsend, who later hinted at possible “racial undertones” in their exchange during her press conference.

Ostapenko later explained on Instagram that her anger stemmed from Townsend’s refusal to apologise after a crucial net-cord point and insisted she had “never been racist” in her life. She accused Townsend of being “disrespectful” in that moment.

But Osaka, who was born to a Japanese mother and Haitian father and has been an outspoken voice against racial injustice, particularly through her support for the Black Lives Matter movement, said the words Ostapenko used were in poor taste and poorly timed.

“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 said 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.”

Osaka, who highlighted racial injustice during her 2020 U.S. Open-winning run by wearing masks bearing the names of African Americans killed in recent years, also weighed in on the sporting side of the controversy – whether players should apologise for winning points off the net cord.

“I definitely wouldn’t care to the point where it would affect me that much that I get very angry,” she 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.”

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