Iga Swiatek was bizarrely asked a rambling question regarding Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko’s controversial exchange at the 2025 US Open. Even though Swiatek tried her best to keep calm and answer the question, the journalist began pressing the Pole and subsequently, the moderator needed to intervene.
Townsend and Ostapenko’s second-round clash ended on a bitter note, as the Latvian brazenly accused the American of not having “class” and “education”. Ostapenko, who lost the match in straight sets, claimed to have been offended by Townsend not apologizing to her after winning a point involving a net cord. The Latvian also criticized the American’s pre-match warm-up routine.
The heated exchange later made its way to social media, as both WTA stars posted about it separately. Later, at a press conference following World No. 2 Iga Swiatek’s hard-fought second-round win over Suzan Lamens, the Pole was asked to comment on the incident featuring Ostapenko and Townsend.
Trending
Bizarrely, the journalist who asked the question brought up seemingly irrelevant issues such as 'race' and 'double standards' across women's sports.
"Given the situation between the African-American tennis players and non (African-American) tennis players not only in your sport but across the board, do you think there's a double standard that you guys are getting treated with across the board? Like yesterday, when Ostapenko told Townsend she was uneducated and arrogant, what does that tell you about this sport in women's sports?" (from 9:24)
Citing her lack of knowledge of other women's sports as well as the controversy involving Ostapenko and Townsend, Swiatek said:
"Well that's a pretty complicated question. I can't speak about every sport because I don't have enough knowledge. We're in this environment. We're in the tennis world. Obviously the world's changed throughout the years and I know there has been some issue yesterday but honestly, I was so focused. I had an early match, so I can't really comment on that. I'm probably going to catch up today, but you can't really judge the whole community from the behavior of one person."
The journalist began to field a follow-up question to the six-time Major champion but was stopped in his tracks by the moderator. Watch the entire exchange below:
Iga Swiatek to lock horns with Anna Kalinskaya in US Open 3R
Up next for Iga Swiatek at the 2025 US Open is a third-round clash against Anna Kalinskaya. The Russian, seeded No. 29 in the women's singles main draw of the hardcourt Major, has so far registered victories against Clervie Ngounoue and Yulia Putintseva.
Swiatek and Kalinskaya faced each other as recently as the 2025 Cincinnati Open, where the WTA stars met in the last eight. Here, the Pole came out on top with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
The pair's head-to-head stands level at 1-1, with Kalinskaya having won their maiden encounter; a semifinal clash at last year's Dubai Tennis Championships.
