American Taylor Townsend scored a surprise victory over 25th seed Jeļena Ostapenko at the US Open, with the pair facing off at the net after the match.
After beating the former French Open winner 7-5, 6-1 on Court 11, Townsend let out a celebratory roar before approaching Ostapenko for the customary handshake.
As is often the case with Latvianshe challenged her opponent, telling Townsend, “you have to apologize” when a shot hits the net string and helps a player earn a point.
Townsend retorted, “No, I don’t have to,” as the noisy crowd jeered and the argument continued.
“You can learn to take a loss better: ‘Thank you very much, great job, great game,’” Townsend said to Ostapenko, who appeared to curse at fans as she packed her bags.
Townsend then fired up the crowd while pointing at his opponent and explaining what happened during his on-court interview.
“It’s competition, people get upset when they lose. Some people say bad things,” Townsend said.
“She told me I had no schooling or education and that I had to see what would happen when we got out of the United States.
“I’m looking forward to it. I beat her in Canada outside the United States, I beat her in New York (in the United States), so let’s see what else she has to say.”
Townsend will next meet fifth seed Mirra Andreeva in the third round, already matching the American world number 139’s deepest run at her home slam since 2019.
Top seeds for men
Jack Draper suffers from an injured left arm. (AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Andreeva’s men’s counterpart, fifth-seeded Jack Draper, was forced to withdraw before his second-round match, while 2022 finalist Casper Ruud was eliminated in five sets as his difficult season continues.
Draper was unable to face Zizou Bergs due to an arm injury after reaching the second round with a victory over Argentine qualifier Federico Agustin Gomez.
In his opening match, he was dealing with a left arm problem that had kept him out since his second-round loss at Wimbledon last month.
“I’m sorry to say that I will be withdrawing from the US Open,” Draper said on social media.
“I did my best to be here and give myself every chance to play, but the discomfort in my arm has become too much, and I have to do the right thing and take care of myself. Thank you for all your support.”
Draper wore a sleeve on her left arm during singles, but did not wear one during her brief mixed doubles tilt with Jessica Pegula.
The 23-year-old reached the semi-finals of last year’s US Open, where he lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner.
Meanwhile, Ruud suffered his second loss to a player ranked outside the top 100 in as many months, losing 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 to 107th-ranked Raphael Collignon in three hours and 30 minutes.
Casper Ruud lost to a player outside the top 100 for the second time in as many months. (Getty Images: Matthieu Stockman)
It was only the third Tour-level victory for Belgian Collignon, who is competing in his second Grand Slam main draw.
Twelfth-seeded Ruud arrived in New York after losing matches to world number 70 Arthur Rinderknech at the Cincinnati Masters and to 109th-ranked Juan Manuel Cerundolo in Gstaad last month.
It continued a mixed year for Ruud, who lost in the second round as the sixth seed at the Australian Open, lost his opening match at Indian Wells and struggled during the clay-court swing despite winning his maiden Masters in Madrid.
In addition to his defeat on clay in Gstaad, the two-time Roland-Garros runner-up was eliminated in the second round of Roland-Garros by world number 41 Nuno Borges, before a knee injury forced him to leave Wimbledon.
Djokovic recovers from initial hesitation, American hopes persist
Novak Djokovic corrected early mistakes and recovered from a set down to overtake American qualifier Zachary Svajda, while Britain’s Emma Raducanu had a much easier time advancing to the third round for the first time since her 2021 title run.
Djokovic committed 14 unforced errors in the first set, compared to just 11 for the rest of the match as he finally hit his stride at Arthur Ashe Stadium, beating Svajda 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
Svajda delivered a surprise start to the delight of the home fans, but was disappointed by an apparent leg injury midway through the match, and Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam winner, advanced to a third-round clash with Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
Norrie’s compatriot Raducanu needed just an hour to get past Indonesian qualifier Janice Tjen, 6-2, 6-1 in the day’s first match at Louis Armstrong Stadium, as she returned to winning ways at the hardcourt tournament.
Raducanu had not won a match at the US Open since winning the trophy during her remarkable run four years ago, but she appears in fine form this year as she made just eight unforced errors.
“I am particularly happy, because on the court I had the impression that my opponent was playing very good tennis. I thought she was very dangerous,” she told reporters.
“So I’m very happy with the way I continued to dictate the points, I continued to dictate the game.”
After Svajda’s loss, fourth-seeded American Pegula lifted the home crowd in Ashe with a routine 6-1, 6-3 victory over Anna Blinkova and will next face three-time finalist Victoria Azarenka.
Fourth-seeded American Taylor Fritz beat South African Lloyd Harris 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-4 in the day’s second match in Armstrong, while Swiss qualifier Jerome Kym awaited in the third round.
Fritz, a 2024 finalist, is among the top contenders hoping to break a 22-year American men’s drought at the tournament, alongside Frances Tiafoe, who beat qualifier Martin Damm 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5.
Reuters/ABC
