Venus Williams described the Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko situation as "a lot of drama" but also praised her fellow compatriot for "handling it amazingly."
After losing a tight first set, Ostapenko's level completely collapsed and she picked up a 5-7 1-6 loss to Townsend in the US Open second round. However, the main attention wasn't on the scoreline, but on a tense moment that happened between the two shortly after the match ended, when the Latvian started pointing her finger at the American and saying that she had "no education" and "no class."
The tennis community ripped Ostapenko's behavior as completely unacceptable, and the 2017 French Open champion was even called out by Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka.
Williams, who served as a role model to Black players such as Townsend, was in action on Saturday and won a doubles match alongside Leylah Fernandez. Afterward, the 45-year-old American tennis icon was asked if she had any thoughts about the ugly incident that happened at Flushing Meadows.
Williams: A lot of drama… Townsend handled it amazingly, I'm rooting for her
"My thoughts about it? It was a lot of drama. It was a lot of drama. I thought Taylor handled it amazing. I really did. I just thought with her as a mom how she handled it, her son will be watching. Her son is watching. She handled it with class, a situation that was not so classy (smiling). Just moved on and won again. So she's handling it amazing. I'm rooting for her. She's a wonderful person, a great mom. I hope she can keep going," Williams said.
Initially, Ostapenko remained adamant that Townsend disrespected her with some of her on-court actions. But over the weekend, the 28-year-old Latvian posted a written message on Instagram, where she apologized. However, when asked about the apology, the American said that the Latvian didn't reach out to her personally.
