"A sore loser standing up for another sore loser" - Fans react to Aryna Sabalenka sympathizing with Jelena Ostapenko after Taylor Townsend controversy

Aryna Sabalenka defended Jelena Ostapenko after the Latvian had a heated exchange with Taylor Townsend after her loss at the US Open. The drama unfolded on Thursday morning, as the American took a commanding 7-5, 6-1 victory in the second round and engaged in a verbal spat at the end of the match.

After Sabalenka's win over Polina Kudermetova, the Belarusian claimed that she spoke to Ostapenko after the match and understood her perspective. She also stated that she tried to calm her down during their interaction.

"I spoke to Jelena after the match. Well, I have to say that she's nice. She just sometimes can lose control. She has some things in life to face & some struggles," she said at the post-match press conference.

This, however, didn't sit well with fans, who called Sabalenka out for defending Ostapenko's 'racist' remarks towards Townsend. Some brought up how the World No. 1 reacted in the exact same way when she lost the 2025 French Open finals to Coco Gauff, calling her out on her comments.

Here are some of the fan reactions:

"A sore loser standing up for another sore loser," a fan wrote.

"Just two insufferable racist white women who can’t even bare the thought of losing to a black woman telling each other “exactly”," stated one.

"She’s [Aryna Sabalenka] the last person that needs to be giving advice. Everybody has stuff going on in their life. That’s no excuse for her to act like that," wrote another.

"Why do they make excuses for bad and unprofessional inhuman behavior? Who tells her that Taylor doesn’t have personal stuff too? GTFOH," posted one in fury.

"Racist support racist, Sabalenka had the same attitude with Coco," another wrote.

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Aryna Sabalenka's comments on Coco Gauff after French Open defeat

Aryna Sabalenka was heartbroken after she lost her second consecutive Grand Slam final of the season at the French Open this year. The 27-year-old was crushed 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 by Coco Gauff to win her maiden title at the Paris Slam.

However, Sabalenka didn't take the loss well and made some controversial comments during the post-match press conference on the American.

"I think she won the match not because she played incredibly, but because I made all those easy ball errors," she said.

Sabalenka later apologised to Gauff by admitting that she was wrong and settled their differences during Wimbledon. The duo made a TikTok dance video and declared a truce during a practice session break at the SW19.