Insider support escalates out of control in the quarrel! Sabalenka calls Osaka a good person, while Osaka says she crossed a forbidden line.

The quarrel triggered by Ostapenko at the US Open has moved from public attention to internal debates among insiders. With Sabalenka, Gauff, Naomi Osaka, and Stephens all stepping in, it appears this storm won’t settle quickly.

After the former French Open champion lost in straight sets to American Townsend in the second round of the US Open, she became very emotional post-match and verbally attacked Townsend. At the time, outsiders were unclear about what caused such a heated argument since Townsend seemed to have done nothing wrong during the match.

It wasn’t until Townsend refused to stay silent, accusing Ostapenko of being “tasteless and uncoached” and threatening “wait until you leave America,” that the truth behind the incident became clear to everyone.

While this incident shocked public opinion, after Ostapenko was labeled a “tennis shrew” and accused of racial discrimination, the controversy skyrocketed like a rocket!

To avoid the narrative being dominated by Townsend’s side and turning public opinion against her, Ostapenko quickly explained why she was so angry. She said Townsend didn’t apologize for scoring by brushing the net and didn’t take it seriously, and during warm-up, Ostapenko felt Townsend violated rules by not starting from the baseline but choosing to volley at the net. These two actions crossed her bottom line and triggered the quarrel.

To prove her accusations were justified, Ostapenko cited Sabalenka and Swiatek, emphasizing that they always apologize immediately after scoring by brushing the net, calling it basic courtesy, hoping to sway public opinion in her favor.

Japanese player Naomi Osaka commented on the quarrel, stressing that the reason it spiraled out of control was because the Latvian player broke a taboo.

“I think the timing was wrong, and that was the worst thing you could say. I’m not sure if Ostapenko understands America’s history.” According to Osaka, in a sport dominated by white athletes, for Ostapenko to say such things to a Black player would not gain understanding or sympathy but only make matters worse, implying Ostapenko was at fault.

Osaka’s remarks indirectly explain why this incident eventually became linked to accusations of racial discrimination.

American player Gauff bluntly said that Ostapenko’s claim that Townsend violated rules by not starting warm-up from the baseline but going to the net was ridiculous. Gauff explained that Townsend has warmed up this way since she was 14, and it is just a habit.

Gauff implied that Ostapenko has faced Townsend before and should be aware of this habit, so bringing it up now is hard to understand and seems like an emotional outburst after losing.

Moreover, Gauff highly praised Townsend’s character, calling her one of the nicest people she has ever met: “Whenever I struggle on court, she always texts me to check on how I’m doing.”

Some netizens supporting Gauff’s account said that if Townsend’s behavior was really problematic, she would have been complained about or warned by referees many times before. Since no one has said anything, it means Townsend’s warm-up style is within acceptable limits.

Sharing Gauff’s view and siding with Townsend is former US Open champion Stephens.

“I think this kind of thing happens often on our tour. Because we’re at the US Open, with an American audience and American players, this incident was blown out of proportion. But throughout the year, all players face this kind of situation on tour. This isn’t the first time, right? It’s not new to us.” Stephens said she supports Townsend not because they are friends but because the two complaints Ostapenko raised are common on tour. She didn’t expect Ostapenko to exaggerate and make such a big deal out of it.

In the debate over Ostapenko’s quarrel, insiders clearly lean towards Townsend, with only Sabalenka showing support for the Latvian player.

The Belarusian player stated that this incident was definitely caused by Ostapenko losing control of her emotions, because “she is a good person.”

Of course, Sabalenka also emphasized that when Ostapenko talked to her after the incident, she gave her advice, hoping one day Ostapenko would realize what happened, especially to stay calm when facing difficulties unrelated to tennis, or else things would be hard to fix. “She needs to learn from this.”(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Moon River’s Starry Sky)