NEW YORK.- The Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka rolled out on Thursday against Jelena Ostapenko after the letona lifted accusations of racism after its elimination from United States Open.
Ostapenko was located in the center of the controversy after directing a furious harangue on the track to his African -American rival Taylor Towsendafter losing his second round match of the last Grand Slam of the year on Wednesday.
Towsend revealed later that Ostapenko had accused her of “lack of education and class” in a vehement harangue after defeat.
These comments were interpreted as racists by numerous users on social networks, which led Letona to broadcast a denial of Wednesday.
“How many messages I have received saying that I am racist,” he wrote on his Instagram account.
“I have never been racist in my life and respect for all the nations of the world, for me it does not matter where you come from,” he added, before reiterating that his criticisms of Towsend were due to a supposed lack of label.
However, Ostapenko’s statements continued to generate shock in Flushing Meadows on Thursday.
The Japanese star Naomi Osaka, whose father is from Haiti, described Ostapeko’s comments to Towsend as “terrible”.
“I think, obviously, it is one of the worst things that can be told a black tennis player in a mostly white sport,” Osaka said after his victory in second round against Hailey Baptiste.
“I know Taylor and I know how hard he has worked and I know how intelligent it is, so he is very far from being an uncultured or something similar,” he said.
“He is inappropriate and the worst person who could have told him. And I don’t know if (Ostopenko) knows history in the United States. But I know he will not say that again in his life. He was terrible. He was really bad,” Osaka acknowledged.
Shelton’s response
Towsend’s mixed double couple, the young American star Ben Shelton, also criticized the words of the Letona.
“Some shocking comments towards (Towsend) and not the most intelligent that can be told an American in New York,” Shelton said. “Speak for itself, right? A madness. A madness of declaration.”
Towsend said Wednesday that he did not believe that Ostapenko’s comments were racist. “I did not take it that way, but also, you know, it has been a stigma in our community of not being educated and all those things when it is the furthest of truth.”
“I really do not take it as something personal, because I know it is far from the truth and far from anything. I am very strong. I am very proud as a black woman to be here representing myself and representing us and our culture,” he said.
