American tennis player Taylor Townsend and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko were involved in a heated exchange following their second-round match at the U.S. Open on Wednesday. Townsend secured a 7-5, 6-1 victory on Court 11 before the argument erupted on the sideline.

Townsend, ranked world No. 1 in doubles, said Ostapenko told her she had “no class” and “no education.” Asked afterward whether she believed the remarks carried racial undertones, Townsend, who is Black, said she did not interpret them that way but acknowledged the sensitivity of such language.

“I didn’t take it in that way,” Townsend said. “But there’s always been a stigma in our community of being ‘not educated,’ which is far from the truth. Whether it had racial undertones or not is for her to speak on. My only focus right now is moving forward in this tournament.”

Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, later addressed the controversy on social media, denying accusations of racism.

“I received so many messages calling me a racist,” she wrote. “I was NEVER racist in my life and I respect all nations of people in the world. For me, it doesn’t matter where you come from.”