Frances Tiafoe is the latest star to weigh in after Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko exchanged some heated words at the net yesterday.
Naturally, this argument has dominated the headlines since the match’s conclusion, with the drama surrounding this event drawing mass intrigue.
And with good reason, given there was seemingly no reason for such aggravation throughout the match.
It was relatively good-natured, aside from the crowd occasionally riling up the Latvian. But, given that she faced an American, this had to be expected.
What was not expected was Ostapenko’s post-match outburst, in which she branded Townsend ‘uneducated’ and lacking respect.
Frances Tiafoe, upon hearing about this, gave his reaction.
Frances Tiafoe weighs in after Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko argument
Speaking at his press conference, the American clearly missed watching this unfold live, given he was likely mid-match and then dealing with his own post-match routine.
However, when told what had happened, he unsurprisingly jumped to the defence of Townsend.
His words were cautious though, having yet to view the incident himself. But, when informed of what happened, he claimed: “I mean, who won? Oh, Taylor won…
“Well, I mean, you kind of got your reaction. She got the last laugh. You can sit there and laugh at that.
“I guess I never think it needs to go there. No reason for it. Uh, I mean, I can’t speak too much to it, but I just don’t like it. I mean, no need to go there if you lost, you lost. Keep pushing.
“But I gotta see a video. I mean, I really, I don’t know what really happened. So, but, um. I mean, no reason to ever go there. Like, keep it about tennis and competing, but when I see a video, maybe next time around, I got some more to say about it.
“Shout out Taylor man, good job.”
Ostapenko has explained her anger with Townsend on social media, with no sign of an apology within her weak justification.
Frances Tiafoe is back to looking strong at the US Open again
Tiafoe naturally was keen not to get too wrapped up in this controversy.
After all, he was coming off the back of yet another impressive win, beating fellow American Martin Damm Jr. in four hard-fought sets.
It marked another relatively comfortable passage into the third round of the US Open, with the 27-year-old seemingly gathering steam at his favourite event.
On these New York courts, Tiafoe is a man revived. It feels like, regardless of his pre-tournament form, he performs at this tournament.
With the big-serving but wildly out-of-form Jan-Lennard Struff next up, the two-time US Open semi-finalist has a golden opportunity to reach the fourth round and pick up plenty of steam as he seeks to mimic, and potentially even surpass those two fine runs.
