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Jelena Ostapenko has made a move to try and end the storm around her bust-up with Taylor Townsend, as she took a step to try and end a story that has refused to die down.

Townsend beat Ostapenko at the US Open, but the loser in their battle made her point at the end of the match as she suggested the American should have apologised for a net cord.

Her gripe manifested itself into an ugly tirade, as she suggested Townsend has “no education” and “no class”.

Those comments were viewed by many observers, especially in America, as having a racial undertone, with Townsend clearly shocked the manner of abuse coming at her.

The story has gathered momentum in recent days and has become of the big talking points of this year’s US Open, with Ostapenko cast as the villain in what was an ugly story.

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Ostapenko issued a statement insisting her comment has no racial undertones, but she has now offered up fresh comments to try and defuse a story that has developed a life of its own.

“English is not my native language so when I said education, I was speaking only about what I believe as tennis etiquette, but I understand how the words I used could have offended many people beyond the tennis court,” said Ostapenko.

“I appreciate the support as I continue to learn and grow as a person and a tennis player. Goodbye New York and I look forward to being back next year.”

Townsend has become the face of the 2025 US Open in America and she continued her impressive run in the singles tournament with a thrilling win against No 5 seed Mirra Andreeva.

“I’m really just proud that I kept the main thing the main thing,” said the 29-year-old.

“I want to say thank you to everyone who supported me over these last 48 hours. It’s bigger than me. It’s about the message, it’s about the representation, it’s about being bold and being able to show up as yourself, and I did that.”

This story will haunt Ostapenko, especially when players with a profile such as Naomi Osaka intervened with such pointed comments.

“I think obviously it’s one of the worst things you can say to a black tennis player in a majority white sport,” who is through to the fourth round, where she will face Coco Gauff.

“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.

“If you are genuinely asking me about the history of Ostapenko, I don’t think that’s the craziest thing she has said. It was bad timing and the worst person she could have said that to.

“I don’t know if she knows the history of it in America and she will never say that again, but it’s just terrible. That was really bad.”

Ostapenko’s latest statement confirms she appreciates the hurt her words caused, but her punishment may be that this story will be as big a part of her tennis legacy as anything she achieves on court.

READ NEXT: Naomi Osaka enters Jelena Ostapenko racism row with pointed comments

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Daria Abramowicz has faced criticism over her relationship with Iga Swiatek this season, but how has the psychologist responded to the noise surrounding her role on the Polish star’s team?

Swiatek started working with Abramowicz, a renowned sports psychologist, in February 2019, when she was 17 years old and ranked just inside the top 150 on the WTA Tour.

Abramowicz has been praised for helping Swiatek become the leading player of her generation, with the 24-year-old securing 24 titles, including six Grand Slams, and spending 125 weeks as the world No 1.

During the 2020 French Open, where Swiatek won her maiden major title, the Pole credited Abramowicz for making her “smarter” and increasing her confidence level.

The pair’s partnership came under scrutiny earlier this year, though, as Swiatek was criticised for some of her on-court behaviour during a difficult run of form.

The world No 2 appeared to hit a ball towards her team – close to a ball boy – during her Indian Wells semi-final loss to Mirra Andreeva in March. Abramowicz, 37, was seen shouting from the stands during the match.

Following this incident, Polish sports psychologist Dariusz Nowicki claimed “certain boundaries” between Abramowicz and Swiatek had been crossed and labelled the partnership “disturbed.”

“If we were to look at this relationship only and exclusively from the point of view of strictly psychological workshop, then it is indeed a disturbed relationship, in which certain boundaries of professional distance between the psychologist and the client are crossed,” Nowicki told Interia Sport.

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“Unfortunately, most errors in perception occur when emotions are aroused. Regardless of whether these are positive or negative emotions, then we make errors in the accuracy of observation.”

Ahead of the French Open, Swiatek defended Abramowicz amid strong criticism from the Polish media.

“Daria is a constant source of support for me, someone I trust,” she said. “In fact, I trust my entire team, and I want people around to know that.

“This is my team – I decide who’s in it. The recent media pressure doesn’t create space for calm and focused work. On the contrary it creates additional, unnecessary stress.”

Abramowicz addressed the questions over her role in an interview with Marek Furjan, who hosts the Polish tennis podcast Break Point.

Furjan asked Abramowicz if she had considered sitting separately from Swiatek’s coaches during matches.

Furjan: “Didn’t you ever want to move a little away from [Wim] Fissette or [Tomasz] Wiktorowski, to the third or fourth row? Because in my opinion, that could resolve these tensions.”

Abramowicz: “But I do what is expected of me, what the athlete I work with asks me to do. And let’s move from that.

“If a player wants to have her own team, and if she wants us to, for example, not smile in the box, or cheer after every point, but rather look focused and be very meticulous, for example, or if she said before the match, ‘I need a lot of energy from you today, so I need a lot of “jazda” (a Polish word meaning let’s go), and so on, then we’ll do it.

“And of course, I talked to Iga about it. Of course I do: ‘Do you want us to make any changes? Or maybe I shouldn’t, for example, do you want me to skip a trip?’ And I repeat again: I do what the athlete expects of me.”

READ NEXT: Iga Swiatek left in disbelief as US Open journalist storms out of press conference after row

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American hopes at the 2025 US Open suffered a hammer blow on Friday as Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, who have both shone at Flushing Meadows in recent years, exited the tournament in the third round within an hour of each other.

Shelton, a US Open semi-finalist in 2023, was forced to retire with a shoulder injury with the score tied at 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6 in his third round match with world No 77 Adrian Mannarino in Louis Armstrong Stadium. The world No 6 suffered the injury when diving on the court to win the third set in stunning fashion.

After telling his father and coach Bryan he was experiencing “more pain than he has ever felt on a tennis court”, Shelton battled through the fourth set, but he was unable to start the fifth. The 22-year-old left the court in tears.

Shortly after Shelton’s painful exit, Tiafoe was upset 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) by the dangerous 144th-ranked qualifier Lan-Lennard Struff on Grandstand court.

The world No 17, who was a semi-finalist at the New York major in 2022 and 2024, had a set point in the third set, but was outplayed throughout by the big-hitting 35-year-old German.

The loss of Shelton and Tiafoe, who were both in the bottom half of the draw, could benefit No 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz and No 7 seed Novak Djokovic — who were likely opponents for the two home favourites.

Alcaraz was projected to face Shelton in the quarter-finals, which many were forecasting as a tricky potential encounter for the Spaniard despite his 3-0 head-to-head record against the American.

Shelton tested Alcaraz in a pulsating four-set last 16 match at the French Open in June, and he arrived at the US Open after winning his biggest career title in Toronto and making the quarter-finals in Cincinnati.

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The American continued his impressive form at Flushing Meadows with clinical wins in his two matches before facing Mannarino, and his firepower makes him dangerous to even the game’s elite when in full flight.

If Alcaraz can navigate a fourth round meeting with 82nd-ranked Arthur Rinderknech, he will take on either Mannarino or 21st seed Jiri Lehecka — which represents a more favourable draw than playing Shelton.

Djokovic, meanwhile, would have met Tiafoe in the last 16 had the 27-year-old American overcome Struff.

While Djokovic is 1-0 against Tiafoe (2-0 including Laver Cup), the former world No 10 — who often brings his best tennis in big US Open matches — could have been a tough fourth round opponent.

As impressive as Struff has been to win six straight matches in New York (including qualifying), Djokovic holds a 7-0 record against the German and has only lost one set across all of their previous meetings.

The way the bottom half of the draw has played out has arguably increased the chances of a semi-final blockbuster between Alcaraz and Djokovic.

For Djokovic, a potential quarter-final clash with leading American hope Taylor Fritz — the fourth seed and 2024 US Open runner-up — looms if he gets past Struff and Fritz beats Tomas Machac. The Serb holds a 10-0 record against Fritz, which feels like a huge psychological hurdle for the Californian to overcome.

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The post Why Carlos Alcaraz & Novak Djokovic are big winners from Ben Shelton & Frances Tiafoe’s US Open exits appeared first on Tennis365.

Novak Djokovic spoke with brutal honesty about his physical condition after overcoming an injury scare to claim a four-set victory over Cameron Norrie at the 2025 US Open.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion prevailed 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-3 against 35th-ranked Norrie in the third round of the US Open after two hours and 49 minutes in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Djokovic left the court when leading 5-4 in the first set for a medical timeout due to a back issue that was causing him visible discomfort. The Serbian also received treatment early in the second set.

After seeing a 3-1 tiebreak lead slip away to lose the second set, Djokovic was broken in the opening game of the third set, but he responded by winning 12 of the next 16 games to seal his progress to the last 16.

The 38-year-old also struggled physically at times in his first two matches in New York and admitted after his second round win over Zachary Svajda that he “didn’t feel that great.”

Following his win against Norrie, Djokovic did not hide his concern about his body in a candid interview with ESPN.

“Well, honestly I am concerned. You know, nowadays [I am] more concerned than I have ever been,” said the four-time US Open champion.

“Even though I really am meticulous with the care for my body and I put in a lot of hours on and off the court to make sure that my body is fit and recovered well.

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“But you know, age is… you can’t fight it. So things are different. I have to obviously adjust myself the way I approach things training.

“Sometimes I don’t train between matches because with my team when I have this discussion, we think that long term is better and that recovery is more important than hitting some balls in the court.

“So maybe that’s going to be the case tomorrow. We have to still discuss that and just focus on recovery and get ready for next one.”

The world No 7 also addressed how long he spends on recovery in between matches.

“Actually probably even more when I was younger; it’s just in order to keep up with the youngsters I just have to put an extra, extra hour, extra few hours every day,” Djokovic explained.

“Whether it’s table work, whether it’s recovery from using different wellness machines or good sleep, nutrition, obviously all of it, all of it comes into equation and all of it matters when you go deeper in the tournament.

“The young guys, they come in fresh and I come with a half tank empty in a sense and so I’m going to try to change that for this tournament. I don’t know if that’s going to be possible.

“Obviously, it’s very unpredictable how the body is going to respond. But one thing is for sure, I’m always going to give my very best the last drop of energy to make sure that I go as deep as I possibly can.”

Djokovic will face world No 144 Jan-Lennard Stuff in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.

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Emma Raducanu’s US Open humiliation was complete as she was hammered in submission by No 9 seed Elena Rybakina in a match that was done and dusted in an hour.

It wasn’t just the end of a Grand Slam dream that will leave a lasting mark on Raducanu, as the gulf in class between the two players may have come as a shock to the British No 1 after a 6-1, 6-2 win for Rybakina.

Raducanu has been taking strides forward in recent weeks, with impressive performances against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Masters fuelling hope that she was closing he gap on the game’s top players.

Yet that theory was blown apart by a dominant Rybakina, with Raducanu in reflective mood as she spoke to Sky Sports.

“That match was very difficult. I never really got a chance to settle or feel any rhythm,” she said.

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“I just felt that there were so few balls in play that when one was in play, I felt too much pressure to do something.

“A lot of work to do – especially against the top players – but, overall, I’m heading in the right direction.

“I’m just ready to get back on the practice court. I have some time now to work on my game.

“I haven’t spoken yet [with coach Francis Roig], but I’m sure we’ve got a lot to debrief on.”

Interestingly, Raducanu suggested Rybakina’s brand of power hitting was harder for her to deal with than Sabalenka’s, but she insisted she would take some positives from her displays over the last few weeks.

“I think it’s going to be important to just look at the last few months as a whole and the improvements that I’m making, because a match like that can easily get you down if you let it,” she said.

“So I’m going to try and not do that and regroup and just work hard and get ready for Asia.

“I’ve lost to Iga [Swiatek] twice, Aryna [Sabalenka], and Elena, so it’s tough. But, at the same time, that’s where I’m at with my ranking. I can play top opponents in the first, second, or third round.

“So I’ve just got to do my best in the next few months until Australia to just keep working to try and close the gap.

“I think, depending on the day, depending on how we match up, I’m getting better overall. So I just need to keep consistent and put this one behind me.”

Former British No 1 Laura Robson is a big supporter of Raducanu, but she suggested her tactics may have been misguided against Rybakina, as she refused to take a step back even though she was being overpowered.

“Rybakina has played a great match there,” Robson told Sky Sports.

“In terms of her groundstrokes, she was playing so freely, going for her shots. She was never rushed, that was the big thing that stood out.

“Raducanu wasn’t committed tactically. At times it looked like she was trying to hit big, but then the next point she’d take half a step back.

“It gave Rybakina this easy rhythm to work with, and she was just able to put so much pressure on Raducanu.”

Raducanu has confirmed she is already thinking about her matches in Asia that will round off her year, with a push towards the top 10 of the WTA Rankings in her sights as she has limited points to defend between now as the end of 2025.

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The post Emma Raducanu makes brutal confession as former British No 1 questions tactics appeared first on Tennis365.

Carlos Alcaraz has said that his medical timeout was just a ‘precaution’ after he appeared to be suffering knee discomfort during his third-round match at the US Open.

The Spaniard cruised past Italian Lucas Darderi 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 to reach the last 32 at the New York event for the fourth time.

However, mid-way through the second set, Alcaraz began to touch his knee after a seemingly awkward service landing – displaying concerned looks to his team.

As would be expected, the five-time Grand Slam champion asked the umpire if he could take a medical timeout during the next changeover, before going on to receive a massage.

Alcaraz went on to break at 5-4, winning the final seven games of the match against Darderi.

“I’m feeling good,” Alcaraz clarified, during his post-match interview.

“It was just a precaution.

“I asked for the physio. I felt something that was not good in the knee, but after five or six points, it was gone.

“I just asked for the physio to take care of the knee because there was one serve left [in the second set] and I had to be ready, had to be good, had to feel good physically.

“It was a precaution. I will talk with my team but I’m not worried about it.”

Alcaraz’s third-round clash was his first day session at this year’s US Open, starting at 11:30AM – a relatively early start, compared to most events.

Nevertheless, the Spaniard looked to continue his impressive form, having won 33 of his last 34 matches and not dropping a set at the US Open, so far.

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“I tried to stay awake,” Alcaraz joked.

“That was important.

“We started at 11:30 so it’s good that I managed to play [my game]. My first goal was to start well, to start focused, with energy and a good rhythm, and I think I started pretty well. I pushed him to the limit.

“Tried to play long rallies and get a rhythm with the serve and return.

“And after that I just kept it going. Today I played such great tennis. It was such a great performance and I’m really proud about it.

“I’m not an early person so for me it’s difficult to wake up in the morning. That was one of the good things about today. I woke up early, did my warm up. Played good.”

Alcaraz will next play Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the fourth round.

Rinderknech, most recently, defeated world No 3 Alexander Zverev 7-6(3), 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4 in the first round of Wimbledon, and battled through a tough five-set battle against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his second round match in New York.

 

The post Carlos Alcaraz gives major update after suffering injury scare during latest match appeared first on Tennis365.

Emma Raducanu suffered a heavy defeat to Elena Rybakina at the 2025 US Open, and legendary coach Rick Macci has weighed in on the Brit’s quest to close the gap to world’s best players.

The world No 36 was dismantled 6-1, 6-2 by 10th-ranked Rybakina, a Wimbledon champion in 2022, in the third round of the US Open.

Raducanu shocked the tennis world at the 2021 US Open when — as an 18-year-old qualifier ranked 150th in the world — she stormed through the draw without losing a set to win what remains her only career title. She is the only qualifier in tennis history to win a Grand Slam.

Since that staggering breakthrough four years ago, Raducanu has endured some challenging times on tour, with injuries hampering her progress. She underwent surgeries on both her wrists and her ankle in 2023.

The 22-year-old has enjoyed the most consistent period of her career since the Miami Open in March, where she started working with Mark Petchey, who she has since replaced with Rafael Nadal’s former coach Francisco Roig.

Raducanu, who reached a career-high ranking of 10th in 2022, has been backed to return to the top 10 by Macci, who spoke exclusively to Tennis365.

“One thousand percent, she is a top ten talent. And let’s face it, there’s a fine line between winning and losing. There’s a fine line with that confidence,” said the American, who coached Serena and Venus Williams.

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“And as she gets more confident and she starts beating the top players, not only can she be in the top 10, she can definitely contend for a Grand Slam, because she has enough game, because she’s done it before.”

Tennis365 asked Macci to identify the biggest hurdle Raducanu must overcome to return to the top 10 and challenge for Grand Slams again.

“I think it’s two things, I just think that she needs to keep competing and play on her instincts and not overthink it. That’s number one,” Macci assessed.

“But I think the wildcard with her is to stay injury-free. You gotta understand, she kind of had the daily double on the comeback, you know, she had surgery and then you don’t play for a while. So, you’re not playing, and an injury — that takes a long time.

“So, if she can stay injury-free and just get a lot of matches, get some good wins. And let’s face it, anybody who plays her, they know that she’s capable of beating them now. Maybe they didn’t look at it a year ago, but now that she’s dropped a few players, played a lot of players close… and she has weapons.

“Listen, if you can hurt people and you have weapons, you can beat anybody, anytime, anywhere. She’s definitely top 10 and it could happen a lot sooner than later.”

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Emma Raducanu made a strong start to her 2025 US Open campaign, but the 22-year-old Brit’s run ended with a chastening third round defeat to a hugely impressive Elena Rybakina.

No 9 seed Rybakina delivered a devastating display of big-hitting tennis to crush Raducanu 6-1, 6-2 in just an hour and three minutes in Louis Armstrong Stadium at Flushing Meadows.

The third round encounter promised to be a blockbuster given the form of Raducanu, who dropped only three games in each of her first two matches.

Raducanu’s first two opponents, Ena Shibahara and Janice Tjen, were ranked 128th and 149th respectively, and it proved to be a monumental step-up against Rybakina — who won Wimbledon in 2022.

The 2021 US Open winner pushed world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka hard in matches in Cincinnati and Wimbledon in the past two months, but she was never in this contest with the world No 10.

The world No 36 lost her serve twice in each set and did not create a single break point against the big-serving Rybakina, despite the 26-year-old Kazakh landing just 47% of her first serves.

In her on-court interview, Rybakina said: “Really happy with the performance, it’s not easy playing against Emma.

“Sometimes the score doesn’t show, but she’s a tough competitor.

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“I’m pretty happy with how I played today and I’m looking forward to the next match.

“Throughout the years, for some reason the US Open wasn’t successful for me. Hopefully that changes this year and I can go as far as possible.”

Speaking on Sky Sports, former British No 1 Laura Robson praised Rybakina while questioning Raducanu’s tactical inconsistency.

“Rybakina has played a great match there,” said the former world No 27.

“In terms of her groundstrokes, she was playing so freely, going for her shots. She was never rushed, that was the big thing that stood out.

“Raducanu wasn’t committed tactically. At times it looked like she was trying to hit big, but then the next point she’d take half a step back.

“It gave Rybakina this easy rhythm to work with, and she was just able to put so much pressure on Raducanu.”

Former world No 4 Tim Henman also gave his verdict: “Credit where credit is due: I thought Rybakina was outstanding from the word go.

“She came out with that aggressive ball-striking, which is her bread and butter. It’s why she is a Grand Slam champion.

“She really went after Raducanu’s serve, got that early break and the momentum just built and built. It was a very complete and consistent performance from Rybakina.”

Rybakina will play either Jasmine Paolini or Marketa Vondrousova in the fourth round.

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After coming through a difficult second round match at the 2025 US Open, Iga Swiatek was left stunned and irritated by a question she was asked in her post-match press conference.

Swiatek defeated world No 66 Suzan Lamens 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in Arthur Ashe Stadium to progress to the third round at Flushing Meadows, where she is chasing her second US Open title and seventh Grand Slam crown.

The world No 2 won the opening set routinely and looked on course for a convincing win as she was twice up a break at 2-1 and 4-3 in the second set. The Pole was, however, derailed by issues with her forehand late in the second set, while her 26-year-old Dutch opponent impressed.

“I served better [in the third set] than in the previous sets,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview.

“I wanted to be pretty confident with my serve and go for it. I’m happy that I closed it pretty fast, even though I lost one break.

“It wasn’t an easy match and I made some mistakes. I’m happy that at the end I could be more proactive.”

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In the Polish section of her press conference, journalist Tomek Moczerniuk asked Swiatek if she had considered putting beads in her hair.

The full question was: “This is New York, people here like to put on a show, whether good or bad. Some scream on the court, some quarrel, some enter the court with labubu dolls. Have you ever thought of, I don’t know, putting beads in your hair (translated from Polish)?”

Swiatek, who was visibly taken aback and annoyed by the question, responded: “What kind of question is that? Did you think about putting beads in your hair? No. What’s going on here? What sort of a question was that?”

Moczerniuk can be seen walking out of the press conference after Swiatek’s reaction, with the Polish star staring at the reporter and shaking her head.

Tell me it’s not real…

The question is whether Iga wanted to weave beads into her hair pic.twitter.com/CBDV5EFw3m

— S.|198km/h| (@Sarilec) August 28, 2025

On his Twitter/X account, Moczerniuk addressed the backlash he has faced and explained his intention was to “lighten the mood” after a “tense” press conference.

“The conversation with Iga got a bit out of hand,” Moczerniuk wrote. “Unfortunately, I got caught in the crossfire because she didn’t like that I asked if — since New Yorkers like a show — she had ever thought about lightly shocking them, for example, by weaving beads into her hair.

“You need to understand the whole context. The end of the conference was tense, and I wanted to lighten the mood a bit and ask a casual, relaxed question. But it turned out as it did, and I can’t turn back time. I’ll apologise to [Iga] at the earliest opportunity.”

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Coco Gauff was overcome with emotion during and after her US Open match against Donna Vekic as the old habits kicked in again and she had to dig deep to get herself back on track.

Having brought in biomechanical coach Gavin MacMillan – the man who helped Aryna Sabalenka to overcome her serving hiccups – just days before the start of the tournament, Gauff put in a lot of extra hours on the practice court in an attempt to fix her own serving woes.

She admitted after her difficult opening match against Ajla Tomljanovic, which required three sets, that the process had been mentally exhausting and there were days when her shoulder was hurting as they tried to change her service motion.

The two-time Grand Slam winner had served 320 double faults before the start of the US Open, and she added another 10 to her tally during the Tomljanovic match.

And 330 has increased to 338 after she sent down eight more double faults during the win over Vekic in the second round with two of those coming at 4-4 in the opening set as the Croatian broke to go 5-4 up.

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Gauff broke down during the changeover as she started crying, but the reigning French Open champion’s never-say-die attitude helped her to battle on and she eventually won the set via a tie-breaker before settling down in the second set for a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win.

And there were more tears during the on-court interviews as she had to take another moment to compose herself before saying: “Honestly, today was a tough match for me, but I’m just happy with how I was able to manage.

“It’s been a rough couple of weeks. I’m just happy to be back on this court, and you guys bring me so much joy. You guys really help me a lot. I’m doing this for myself, but I’m also doing it for you, and no matter how tough it gets inside, you can do it.”

Gauff was broken four times in the opening set, but the good news for her is veteran Vekic also struggled and she managed to break four times herself. The second set was much better as the American broke twice and served only one double fault.

.@CocoGauff was emotional after winning her second round match at the US Open pic.twitter.com/py1L7eXKm0

— ESPN (@espn) August 29, 2025

So what was going through her mind when she was struggling with her serve?

“I was just trying to tell myself to breathe, and honestly, just putting another ball in the court and just trying to remember the things that I do well,” she said.

“I don’t remember a lot at the end of the first set, but it’s kind of amazing that I was able to get out of that one. Once I was able to reset, and went to the bathroom, splashed some water on my face, after that I felt a lot better out here.”

The draw gets tougher from here on in as she faces her first seeded player in the 28th seeded Magdalena Fręch next and she gets through that, then she will take on either 15th seed Daria Kasatkina or two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka (23) for a place in the quarter-final.

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