Osaka Slams 'One of the Worst' Insults to a Black Tennis Player

Naomi Osaka is weighing in on the spat between fellow tennis players Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko—and she is fully on the side of Townsend. After Townsend of the US defeated the Latvian on Wednesday, Ostapenko accused Townsend of having "no education" and "no class."

• "I think obviously it's one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority white sport," Osaka, who has a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, told reporters, reports People. "And granted, I know Taylor and I know how hard she's worked and I know how smart she is, so she's the furthest thing from uneducated or anything like that."

• Osaka, who has faced Ostapenko multiple times on the court, said of the Latvian player, "I don't know if she knows the history of it in America." But, she added, "I don't think that's the craziest thing she's said." In this case, it was "ill timing and the worst person you could have ever said it to."
• The controversy has ignited discussions about race, respect, and sportsmanship in the tennis world, notes CBS News. Among other things, the Latvian complained that Townsend didn't apologize after winning a lucky net-cord shot, as players often do. Osaka said she didn't care too much about the etiquette there. "And I definitely wouldn't care to the point where it would affect me that much that I get very angry."
• Townsend, for her part, says she found it hypocritical for Ostapenko to criticize her for etiquette in the way she did. "Even the mannerisms of her hand pointing at my face like I'm a child, and just the things that she was saying, everyone said that it was bad behavior." Ostapenko says race played no role in her comments, and Townsend said she didn't hear them in that way.