Taylor Townsend secured the best win of her 2025 season in the second round of the US Open on Wednesday (August 8), downing Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets. Following the match, the American clashed with the 2018 French Open champion over her being oblivious about apologizing for a let call on an important point.While many fans in the tennis world have since accused the Latvian of racism, a significant portion of them have given her the benefit of the doubt. The controversy in Flushing Meadows was preceded by a stellar performance from the World No. 139 Townsend, who beat the 25th seed 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 18 minutes.After their match had ended, Jelena Ostapenko lashed out at the 29-year-old for the latter's purported lack of respect towards her, which included straying from sportsmanship norms and not apologizing for a lucky net cord point. The doubles World No. 1 later revealed in her post-match on-court interview that her higher-ranked opponent had told her at the net that she lacked "class" and "education".The row between Ostapenko and Townsend has since blown up massively if the former singles World No. 5's admission about being called "racist" by fans on social media is anything to go by. For what it's worth, a bunch of them have since defended her on X (formerly Twitter), with one reasoning that the 28-year-old Latvian doesn't reserve her feisty attitude only for POC players."Jelena Ostapenko is known for beefing with other players too. Just bc Taylor Townsend is black doesn't mean Penko is racist. You guys are the one who bring skin's colour into it," they wrote on X.Other fans also conceded that although Jelena Ostapenko can be unsavoury at times, she wouldn't discriminate between her WTA peers based on their skin color."She didnt give a f*** about her skin colour but her behavior. Ofc Taylor doesnt have to apologize. Its her choice. But brining racism here is a choice," one fan insisted."Wouldn’t say Ostapenko was racist. But she’s still a general piece of s**t in any case," another claimed."She was definitely rude but there's no evidence of racism," one more fan wrote.Here are a few more reactions from some Ostapenko sympathizers on social media:"I don't know who was right in this argument but calling everyone who has a beef with black person a racists is not ok," one fan wrote."People who easily pull the racist card when someone has conflict with someone black, is as worse as a racist," another insisted.Taylor Townsend, meanwhile, reached at least the third round of the women's singles competition at the US Open for only the third time in her career (2019, 2023, 2025). She will be eager to match her career-best result at the tournament when she faces fifth-seeded Mirra Andreeva in the Round of 32 of the hardcourt event later on Friday.Taylor Townsend leads Jelena Ostapenko 2-1 in their head-to-head meetings on the WTA TourJelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend argue at the US Open 2025 | Image Source: GettyAccording to Taylor Townsend, the mercurial Jelena Ostapenko also implied that the American would lose to her once they face off again outside the United States in the upcoming months. However, the Latvian's comments were a little misguided considering the doubles specialist has defeated the singles star in their last two encounters on the WTA Tour.Townsend began their rivalry on the losing end as she wasted a set lead to lose 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 to Ostapenko in the second round of the 2018 US Open. The two-time doubles Major titlist soon flipped the script, though, scoring straight-set victories against her higher-ranked opponent at the 2024 Canadian Open and the 2025 US Open, respectively.