Overview

• Jelena Ostapenko posted an Instagram apology, saying English is not her first language and that her 'education' comment referred to tennis etiquette.
• The dispute stemmed from Taylor Townsend not offering a customary apology after a net-cord point and from pre-match warm-up positioning that Ostapenko viewed as disrespectful.
• Townsend said she did not interpret the remark as racist, called the apology a learning lesson, and noted she was not contacted directly and learned of it through the media.
• Naomi Osaka publicly criticized the 'education' phrasing as especially harmful toward a Black player in a largely White sport, intensifying scrutiny of the incident.
• Using the controversy as motivation, Townsend upset world No. 5 Mirra Andreeva to reach the fourth round and next faces Barbora Krejčíková, while also progressing in doubles with Kateřina Siniaková.