Jelena Ostapenko has issued an apology for her remarks made to American tennis player Taylor Townsend, which have sparked a debate about racism during the US Open.

Townsend, of African American descent, faced Ostapenko, who hails from Latvia, in a match where tensions rose after Townsend secured a victory in straight sets. Ostapenko’s comments to Townsend, labeling her as having ‘no class’ and ‘no education,’ have drawn significant attention. 

Ostapenko denied the comments were racist and has now issued an apology on Instagram.

Without naming Townsend, she wrote: ‘Hi all – I wanted to apologize for some of the things I said during my second-round singles match. 

Ostapenko clarified, “English is not my first language, and when I mentioned education, I was strictly referring to what I deem as tennis etiquette. I acknowledge how my words might have offended a broader audience beyond just the tennis community. I am grateful for the support as I strive to grow personally and in my tennis career. Farewell, New York; I’m eager to return next year.”

Her apology divided fans and came after Townsend’s mom accused Ostapenko of making a racial comment at her daughter.

Sheila Townsend, commenting on the situation, expressed her perspective to the Palm Beach Post, stating, “As a black individual and former black tennis player who has faced similar experiences, I completely understand the implications of her words.”

Sheila Townsend added, “Her comments bore a racial undertone. The reference to education had no relevance to the tennis match itself, which suggests she harbored these sentiments beforehand.

In the fervor of competition, as someone who once played tennis competitively, I can understand if the remarks were about her performance, but they were clearly not directed towards her gameplay.”

‘It’s not the first time with her poor sportsmanship when she has lost. But has she said to another white person about her education? Has she pointed her finger at a white player she may have lost to? I haven’t seen it and I’ve been watching her as long as they’ve been playing.’

The initial response among tennis fans was split as well.

‘This is exactly what i thought too. Education could just easily mean manners or etiquette to a non-english speaker as Jelena has rightly stated,’ one fan wrote on X. ‘Also not everyone in the world needs to be keyed in on american history. They’re tennis players not historian of the world.’

Another supportive reply said: ‘I might be the only person who quickly understood that by education she meant tennis etiquette .I’m not a fan of either player but its sad that it became a race issue.’

But a different tennis follower simply wrote: ‘I mean that seems like a very light apology to me…’ 

Another critical post said: ‘It doesn’t matter if she meant tennis etiquette. She still stood there and told a player with equal experience, the #1 doubles player in the world that she was ignorant of tennis etiquette. And she did not apologise for ‘no class’. I’m done with thinking her quirks are amusing.’

Until now, while denying her words were racist, Ostapenko had doubled down on her fury at Townsend, who she accused of disrespectful conduct.

‘There are some rules in tennis and unfortunately when the crowd is with you, you can’t use it in disrespectful way to your opponent,’ Ostapenko said earlier in the week on Instagram.

‘Unfortunately for me coming from such a small country I don’t have that huge support and a chance to play in homeland. I always loved to play in the US and US Open but this is the first time someone is approaching the match this disrespectful way.’

In a separate and later-deleted social media post, Ostapenko added: ‘She was very disrespectful as she had a net ball in a very deciding moment and didn’t say sorry, but her answer was that she doesn’t have to say sorry at all.’

Townsend, meanwhile, responded by doing her talking on the court.

The unseeded American caused a huge upset on Friday night, beating No 5 seed Mirra Andreeva in just 76 minutes on Arthur Ashe.

Then, she told the crowd: ‘It’s bigger than me. It’s about the message, it’s about the representation, it’s about being bold and being able to show up as yourself and I did that tonight. 

‘You guys saw the real Taylor Townsend tonight.’