Jelena Ostapenko has apologised for her comments towards Taylor Townsend at the US Open.
The Latvian reacted furiously after losing to Townsend in the second round at Flushing Meadows, jabbing her finger repeatedly in the American's face and accusing her of having "no education" and "no class".
The source of Ostapenko’s ire was Townsend’s failure to apologise for a net cord but her language led to claims of racism from certain quarters.
Ostapenko declined to speak to the media but denied being racist on social media while defending her actions.
In a further statement on Instagram addressing her behaviour, she wrote: "I wanted to apologise for some of the things I said during my second-round singles match.
"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.
"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 found herself as arguably the face of the first week and she used the furore as inspiration to propel her to a shock third-round victory over fifth 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 tonight."
Townsend revealed after a doubles win on Saturday that she had not heard personally from Ostapenko but she welcomed the public apology.
"That's nice that she did that, that she apologised," said Townsend. "That’s fine. That’s cool. At the end of the day, I think that it’s a learning lesson for her.
"Like I said when everything first happened, you cannot push your expectations on other people. That’s ultimately what happened. She expected for me to react a certain type of way, and I didn’t, and it infuriated her.
"Which led her to say things that are hurtful, that are belligerent, that are offensive, not only to me, but to the sport and to a whole culture of people that I try to do my best to represent the best that I can.
"I really hope from this she can take that, hey, you can’t control people and it’s better just to focus on yourself."
Coco Gauff found some calm at the US Open as she eased into the fourth round.
The third seed was in tears on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night as she again struggled with her serve before battling to victory over Donna Vekic.
Gauff is trying to remodel her action and there were four more double faults in the third round against Magdalena Frech, but the American was always in control in a 6-3 6-1 victory.
"It's been an emotional week," she said. "I needed those tough moments to be able to move forward. I was putting so much pressure on myself but I’m really out here trying to enjoy it and I think today showed I was really having fun out there."
The only moments of concern for Gauff came in the first set when she was pegged back from 3-0 to 3-3, but she only lost one game thereafter.
"I thought today I played well," she said. "It was tough playing two night matches and then having to play with the shade on one side, tough to see the ball, but overall I’m very happy with how I played and to be through to the fourth round."
Gauff hopes the worst is now behind her in terms of her emotions, adding: "I felt with the new perspective, seeing all the support I’ve gotten since that moment, just seeing how proud people are of me regardless of how I do here.
"Today I felt a lot lighter going on court, and I hope to continue feeling that light weight for the rest of the time here."
Next up Gauff faces a real test in the shape of a resurgent Naomi Osaka, who defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-0 4-6 6-3.
Two of the biggest stars of the women’s game will meet for the first time in New York since Osaka swept aside a then-15-year-old Gauff six years ago.
"My recollections were that I remember just knowing that she was going to be a really great tennis player, which I was right," said Osaka.
"I thought she just handled herself really well, and I knew she was going to be back there. Now, to be playing her again after six years, I don’t know if that makes me old, but just to be at this point of my life and to be playing her again honestly, for me, feels kind of special."
Remarkably, it is the first time Osaka has made it back to the fourth round of a grand slam since she won the most recent of her four titles in Australia in 2021.
The 27-year-old has struggled since returning from the birth of her daughter Shai at the beginning of last season, and she said: "Since I’ve come back, I kind of wanted everything to happen really quickly.
"So I think it took for me to just completely not even think about results anymore and just try to focus on every match by itself."
Iga Swiatek staged an impressive first-set fightback in a 7-6 (2) 6-4 victory over Russian Anna Kalinskaya in the night session.
The second seed, who dropped a set in the previous round, trailed 5-1 and saved four set points in the opener before finding a way through to a fourth-round clash with 13th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
"For sure, it wasn’t an easy match, especially after the beginning," said Swiatek.
"I’m happy that I came back and started playing better because for sure I did some mistakes in the beginning of the first set that I wish didn’t happen. Also, Anna played great.
"I’m happy that I came back and kept being positive and figuring out and problem-solving."
Venus Williams kept her women’s doubles run going alongside Leylah Fernandez, the pair beating Ulrikke Eikeri and Eri Hozumi 7-6 (1) 6-1 to reach the third round.
