Sabalenka surprises by speaking about Ostapenko controversy: "She has problems in life.."

Diego Jiménez Rubio | 28 Aug 2025 | 07.50

Aryna Sabalenka talks about the controversy of Ostapenko. Photo: gettyimages

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Sooner or later it was going to happen. Jelena Ostapenko is one of the most temperamental tennis players on the circuit, and it is not uncommon to see her displaying behaviors of questionable ethics towards her rivals. Her heated argument with Taylor Townsend has generated a lot of media buzz, and the words of Aryna Sabalenka about it do not help calm the waters.

In a tournament like the US Open 2025, there has to be a bit of everything, including controversy, and this has come hand in hand with Jelena Ostapenko. The Latvian was eliminated in the second round by Taylor Townsend, another strong-willed woman who was not going to back down in the face of the usual intimidating maneuvers by the former Roland Garros champion. Their exchange of accusations on and off the court has generated tremendous media attention, to which Aryna Sabalenka has not been oblivious, as the world number 1 and a role model in women's tennis, she expressed her thoughts on the matter when questioned during a press conference.

- Sabalenka admits she tried to calm Ostapenko down after the match but was unsuccessful

"I spoke with Jelena after the match, and despite that, I still don't know what happened. She is a nice girl, but she loses control of her nerves too often. What I tried to do was help her calm down and face the situation with maturity, to show myself as someone she could talk to, but she had completely lost control of her emotions. I don't know, it's tough. I just hope that one day she realizes what is happening, I think she has problems in her life, dealing with difficulties unrelated to tennis that make her an unstable person," she concluded.

It is clear that Jelena Ostapenko is a controversial figure on and off the court, and her argument with Taylor Townsend resulted in her receiving many hateful messages on social media, a significant portion of which were racist. Ostapenko insisted on denying it and added fuel to the fire by expressing her displeasure with her opponent.

"I have never been racist in my entire life, I respect all nations and races of the world, no matter where each person is from. There are rules in tennis, and unfortunately, when you have the crowd on your side, you can use it disrespectfully towards your opponent. I come from a small country and never have the opportunity to have a supportive environment, but I had never seen someone take advantage of that in a clearly disrespectful manner," she explained on social media, continuing her attack on the American.