NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Taylor Townsend is in the spotlight at the U.S. Open as a result of an interaction she wishes never took place.<\/p>\n
Townsend said Jelena Ostapenko told her she had \u201cno class\u201d and \u201cno education\u201d during a face-to-face argument<\/a> after their second-round match Wednesday. A huge crowd cheered her on<\/a> in doubles on Thursday, and now Townsend is set to be front and center in prime time at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night against fifth-seeded Mirra Andreeva.<\/p>\n Going into this Grand Slam, Townsend had nowhere near the star power or the name recognition of fellow Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, and she is not even seeded in single\u2019s play. Yet the 29-year-old who is half of the top-ranked women\u2019s doubles team in the world and was No. 1 as a junior player has become one of the biggest stories of the tournament through no fault of her own.<\/p>\n Still, Townsend hopes the attention around the confrontation and her calling attention to it can be a positive for the U.S. Open and tennis in general.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m someone who can draw huge crowds into the stadiums as a name that can bring people to come and buy tickets and support the game, then that\u2019s a crown that I\u2019ll gladly wear,\u201d Townsend said. \u201cWhatever that it is, whatever type of attention that it brought, it\u2019s doing the right things, which is bring people to see the sport and bringing people in to support and that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n Townsend, who is Black, and Ostapenko, who is from Latvia, had an intense back and forth after Townsend won in straight sets. When asked if she thought the comments had racial undertones, Townsend said she didn\u2019t take it that way but acknowledged, \u201cThat has been a stigma in our community of being \u2018not educated\u2019 and all of the things, when it\u2019s the furthest thing from the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Gauff and Naomi Osaka were among those who publicly came to Townsend\u2019s defense. Osaka called what Townsend reported Ostapenko saying \u201cone of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority white sport.\u201d<\/p>\n Even privately, Townsend said other players came up to her to broach the subject and express their support. Online, she gained thousands of social media followers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s cool to know that people see you and people are watching and more than anything,\u201d Townsend said. \u201cI was hoping that it was received a certain type of way, and it was, so it was just external validation that I handled things the right way and that\u2019s what I\u2019m the most proud of and the most happy with. I wasn\u2019t looking for that, and in my answers and when I decided and I spoke and I said what I said I wasn\u2019t looking for those things, but it\u2019s nice to know that I made people proud.\u201d<\/p>\n Townsend is in the third round at the U.S. Open, along with Gauff, Osaka and Pegula, more than a decade after the U.S. Tennis Association decided to hold her out of junior competition over concerns about her fitness. The organization in 2012 withheld funding her tournament appearances while she focused on getting in better shape.<\/p>\n In the intervening time, she has become dominant in doubles, winning Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open earlier this year with partner Katerina Siniakova, and the pair is the top seed in Flushing Meadows. Townsend has not gotten past the fourth round in singles at a major.<\/p>\n If she does so this time, she wants the lesson to be that it is OK to stand up for yourself.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes I feel like in society, especially people of color, we are expected to be silenced, or sometimes there are times where we have to decide and be very strategic as to when we speak up, and in these type of moments, it\u2019s important for me to speak up, not only for myself but for my culture,\u201d Townsend said. \u201cNo matter what, no matter what attention comes or whatever, I think it\u2019s about being unapologetically yourself, be happy in who you are and never allow anyone to take you out of your character and who you are as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n