Aryna Sabalenka calls Jelena Ostapenko a “nice” person after her clash with Taylor Townsend at US Open

Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko’s conversation after the former’s victory at the US Open second-round match on August 27, 2025, has been creating headlines for some time. Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka disclosed that she spoke to Ostapenko after the match.

According to Yard Barker, Sabalenka had no idea about what happened between the two players, as she recently claimed at a press conference on Thursday, August 28. However, the World No. 1 opened up about Ostapenko’s personality, as she stated:

“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.”

Apart from that, Sabalenka referred to the possible reason why Ostapenko was reacting in a way that she should not, as she said:

“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.”

As of this writing, Jelena Ostapenko has not responded to Sabalenka’s comments. The Belarusian additionally stated that she tried to help Ostapenko since the latter has to struggle with a lot of other things in life.

Furthermore, Sabalenka mentioned that the former French Open champion is possibly regretting everything that happened and is not happy with the same.

Jelena Ostapenko demanded an apology: Argument with Taylor Townsend and more

A video from the match has been trending everywhere, which shows the two players shaking hands until it changes into a verbal dispute. Townsend won the match over the 25th seed 7-5, 6-1.

Notably, the argument emerged from Ostapenko asking for an apology from Townsend for a shot that clipped the top of the net but was still in play. The audience was heard booing after Townsend refused to apologize. The dispute eventually took an intense turn, with the Latvian telling Townsend that she did not have any class or education.

During a press conference, Taylor Townsend confirmed that there were no other issues between her and Ostapenko. According to the New York Post, Townsend said that she expects respect in return if she shows the same to someone else. She also mentioned:

“No matter what’s going on, it’s me versus you, but at the end of the day, we have to respect each other and respect what happens out on the court. It’s competition.”

On the other hand, Jelena Ostapenko shared a few statements on her Instagram Story, addressing everything that happened during the match. She specifically claimed in one of them that she confronted Townsend for reportedly being disrespectful since the latter “had a net ball in a very deciding moment.” She even referred to how Townsend refused to apologize and added:

“There are some rules in tennis which most of the players follow and it was first time ever that this happened to me on tour. If she plays in her homeland it doesn’t mean that she can behave and so whatever she wants.”

Meanwhile, Taylor Townsend has not replied to Jelena Ostapenko’s claims on any platform, and further updates on the same are currently awaited.