Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko involved in heated altercation at US Open

American tennis star Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko have been involved in a heated altercation after their second round clash at the US Open on Thursday morning (AEST).

Townsend upset the 25th seed 7-5 6-1 to book her spot in the third round, but things took an explosive turn after the pair shook hands at the end.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Townsend and Ostapenko in heated clash.

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Words were exchanged and instead of the pair going their separate ways, the conversation continued for around a minute as Ostapenko wagged her finger at Townsend.

Speaking in her on-court interview after the match, Townsend explained what was said to her.

“She told me I have no class, no education, and to see what happens when we get outside the US,” Townsend said.

“I mean, it’s competition.

“People get upset when they lose.

“When she was playing well, I didn’t say anything. That just shows class.”

Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend were involved in a heated exchange. Credit: Getty

When they finally stopped talking to each other, Townsend went over to the stands and egged on the partisan crowd, waving her arm overhead and the noise from spectators only grew louder.

After things had calmed down, Townsend noted during her on-court interview that she had beaten Ostapenko on another occasion and said: “So let’s see what else she has to say.”

During one extended trip to the locker room by Ostapenko while the match had still been going on, Townsend pulled out a jump rope and used it while there was a delay in the action.

Ostapenko later explained her side of the story on Instagram.

“Today after the match I told my opponent that she was very disrespectful as she had a net ball in a very deciding moment and didn’t say sorry, but her answer was that she doesn’t have to say sorry at all,” she wrote.

“There are some rules in tennis which most of the players follow and it was first time ever that this happened to me on tour. If she plays in her homeland it doesn’t mean that she can behave and do what she wants.

“In the beginning of the match all players are supposed to start warm up on the baseline. The opponent came out and straight away started the warm up at (the net) which is very disrespectful and against the rules of a tennis match.

“Thanks all my fans for your support. I will come back stronger. Situations like that motivate me to work even harder.”

Ostapenko has gotten into kerfuffles with opponents during matches before, including in 2021 when she lost to Aussie Alja Tomljanovic at Wimbledon.

Tomljanovic accused Ostapenko of lying about needing to leave the court for a medical timeout to address an abdominal issue.

The explosive spat spilled over with both players calling each other a “disgrace”.

Townsend recently rose to No.1 in the WTA doubles rankings, but this is her first time reaching the third round in singles at a grand slam tournament since 2023.

She is ranked No.139 in singles. She is the lowest-ranked American woman to beat a past grand slam champion at a major since Kristie Ahn defeated — guess who? — Ostapenko at the 2019 US Open.

– with AP