Jelena Ostapenko wanted an apology from Taylor Townsend for winning a point courtesy of the net cord. Stefanos Tsitsipas thought his opponent was deserving of being hit by the ball for serving underarm.
Tennis has a reputation of being elitist and snobby. Ostapenko as well as Tsitsipas showed the ugly side of that the last couple days.
Both players felt they were disrespected by what they deem to be hard, unwritten rules. Worse yet, they thought their opponent not following their rules gave them the right to belittle and disrespect Townsend and Daniel Altmaier, respectively.
Townsend and Altmaier both did well to shrug off the negativity. They can take joy in knowing they’re the ones advancing to the next round. Townsend, in fact, earned herself a Friday night session match at Arthur Ashe stadium against fifth-seeded Mirra Andreeva.
Altmaier will now have to find a way past eighth-seeded Alex de Minaur.
For both Ostapenko and Tsitsipas, it’s an opportunity for some self reflection. Here’s what each of them got wrong.
Ostapenko, Townsend And A Net Cord
Unwritten Rule: If you win a point because the net cord aided you, raise your hand in the form of an apology and say sorry.
Ostapenko says this was the first time in her professional career that someone didn’t apologize for winning a point courtesy the ball deflecting off the net cord. The purpose of the apology is to acknowledge winning the point in an unintended way and that you got lucky.
This isn’t too dissimilar from a basketball player unintentionally making a shot courtesy the backboard. In soccer, it would be akin to scoring off a massive deflection. In either of those cases, you’re never going to see an apology.
Now, tennis is supposed to be a “gentle” sport where courtside etiquette is to be followed as if you’re having lunch with the King of England. Still, while it’s a nice, courteous thing to provide the apology, it doesn’t warrant the extent to which Ostapenko took it.
Ostapenko going as far as to tell Townsend she has “no education” is completely below the belt. Naomi Osaka called it one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player. She also rightly gave Ostapenko the benefit of the doubt in acknowledging the Latvian probably doesn’t know the connotations of saying something like that to a Black American.
Naomi Osaka on the Taylor Townsend & Jelena Ostapenko situation at U.S. Open:
“It’s one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority White sport.”
“I think it’s ill timing and the worst person you could have ever said it to. And I don’t know if… pic.twitter.com/EQ6c5sIYIX
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 28, 2025
Coming back to the unwritten rule, is it something that still needs following? If we’re being real about it, while there is usually a degree of sympathy in the apology, there is no sense of regret. These players are competing for the biggest prizes and will gladly take a slice of luck aiding their cause.
It’s not something that should have an in your face celebration, but it doesn’t need an apology either.
Tsitsipas, Altmaier And Serving Underarm
Unwritten Rule: Professional tennis players are too good to serve underarm and should only do so if forced by some kind of injury.
Let’s get into what actually happened with Tsitsipas and Altmaier first. Early in the fourth set, Altmaier so Tsitsipas stand extremely deep to return his serve and so snuck in an underarm serve.
The sneaky serve caught off Tsitsipas off balance and ultimately win the point. Later during another point in the match, Tsitsipas hit a ball directly towards Altmaier’s body. It left the German utterly confused as to why he would do that when he had all of the court to hit instead.
When Altmaier finally won the match, Tsitsipas revealed the reason why when they shook hands at net.
“Next time, don’t wonder why I hit you, OK?” Tsitsipas said. “I’m just saying, if you serve underarm… ”
Stefanos Tsitsipas had some words with Dan Altmaier after losing to him at U.S. Open:
He’s complaining about Dan hitting an underarm serve during the 4th set.
Frosty. 🥶
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 29, 2025
Before Tsitsipas could finish, Altmaier chose to completely disengage and stepped away. Both then proceeded to just shake hands with the umpire and move on.
This was completely out of bounds on Tsitsipas’ part. Serving underarm is allowed within the rules of tennis. Yes, it’s not something professional players generally resort to, but it has become a more frequent surprise tactic in recent times.
Getting offended by the underarm serve to the point of striking an opponent with the ball is incredibly immature. As far as the sport’s unwritten rules go, this is easily one of the weakest ones.
Apologize for hitting your opponent. Say sorry for causing some type of delay. Tennis can acknowledge it’s a competitive sport and still maintain a high level of sportsmanship.
