The US Open has got off to quite the start if the metrics are measured in level of crash-outs by players on the losing side. First there was Daniil Medvedev’s meltdown after he suffered defeat to Benjamin Bonzi in the first-round of the final Grand Slam of 2025, resulting in his racket being written off due to being damaged beyond repair. Then, in Wednesday night’s second-round showdown between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko, the headlines focused less on the actual result, but more on what transpired in the aftermath. Following Townsend’s – who is ranked No. 143 in the world – victory in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 over No. 25 ranked Ostapenko, a heated exchange took place between the two players. In her on-court interview shortly after the win, Chicago native Townsend addressed the confrontation, and relayed that the Latvian had told her she had ‘no education and no class.’Sabalenka speaks out after Ostapenko incidentAfter world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka defeated Polina Kudermetova 7-6, 6-2 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Belarusian star was asked about the incident between Townsend and Ostapenko.“I actually spoke to Jelena after the match, but during our conversation, I didn’t know what happened,” Sabalenka said in her press conference. “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.“So I was just trying to help her to, not like face it more in a mature way, but I was just trying to help her settle down and was someone she could speak to and let it go. “She can sometimes lose control over her emotions which is pretty tough, and I really hope that one day she will figure out herself and she will handle it much better. “Sometimes when you struggle with some things in life, it of course can reflect in your tennis career, and on the court you’re more unstable and lose control, and you just don’t understand what is going on in the moment. “I’m pretty sure, looking back, she’s not happy with her behavior.”Sabalenka has found herself in a similar situation before, and not too long ago, when she had a meltdown of her own after losing to Coco Gauff in the French Open final back in June. Sabalenka gave her verdict on the heated exchange between Townsend and OstapenkoGettyOstapenko (L) got into it with Townsend (R) after she suffered a straight-set defeatGettyOstapenko was furious at TownsendGettyThere, the 27-year-old said that Gauff didn’t win the match because “she played incredible” but rather because of the amount of mistakes that she had made during the contest. After emotions had – somewhat – settled down a bit, 28-year-old Ostapenko took to her Instagram story to provide her own account of the altercation, and gave some additional insight into the reasons why she felt so aggrieved by what Townsend had done. “Just a small update about the match,” Ostapenko wrote. “Today after the match I told my opponent that she was very disrespectful as she had a net ball in a very deciding moment and didn’t say sorry, but her answer was that she doesn’t have to say sorry at all. “There are some rules in tennis which most of the players follow and it was the first time ever that this happened to me on tour. “If she plays in her homeland it doesn’t mean that she can behave and do whatever she wants. “In the beginning of the match all players are supposed to start warm up on the baseline. The opponent came out and straight away started the warm up at then which is very disrespectful and against the rules of a tennis match.”With Townsend moving on to the third round, her next opponent is world No. 5 Mirra Andreeva, the 18-year-old teen sensation who reached the quarter-final of Wimbledon just a month ago. For Sabalenka, she has to rally past Canadian and world No. 31, Leylah Fernandez.Stay up to date with the latest from the US Open across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for news, exclusive interviews and more.