Sloane Stephens doesn't agree with Jelena Ostapenko's take at all, but on the contrary, she thinks it was Taylor Townsend was the one who showed class and education.
If you somehow missed it, an angry Ostapenko went to Townsend to confront the American with some strong words after suffering a 5-7 1-6 loss in the US Open second round. The American tennis player didn't back down and it led to quite a tense moment. Later, when asked what had just happened, the American doubles world No. 1 said that her rival accused her of having "no education" and "no class."
Stephens, who played her last match in February but remains listed as an active, is a part of ESPN's coverage team for this year's US Open. And she was asked to offer her two cents on the Ostapenko-Townsend incident.
Stephens: Ostapenko didn't show her class and education there
I feel like Taylor showed what class and education she does have. She went out there and she played," the 2017 US Open champion said on ESPN.
Stephens noted that Ostapenko may have been too emotional after picking up an early US Open loss, which led to her reaction. However, the former world No. 3 noted that it wasn't a proper reason for the Latvian to act that way.
I dont think the net cord had anything to do with the match. I think theres other things that are going on. People are emotional when they lose. 1000 %. A lot of the attention has been taken off of Taylors tennis, which I dont like. I do think Ostapenko is a great player. She didnt show her class and education here," Stephens added.
In a social media post after the match, Ostapenko insisted that Townsend didn't act respectfully toward her but also shut down the racist allegations made against her.
