'What's going on here?': Star's presser goes off the rails as Osaka whacks Latvian for 'one of the worst things you can say'

Tennis superstar Iga Swiatek was left frustrated and perplexed as her press conference went off the rails at the US Open on Friday (AEST).

The second seed from Poland was fronting the media in New York after overcoming Suzan Lamens in three sets to reach the third round.

Not surprisingly, Swiatek was asked about the row between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko, with the Latvian telling the American she had "no class, no education" after losing to her at Flushing Meadows.

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The question was predictable but the manner in which the reporter delivered it was not.

"Yesterday, when home girl (Ostapenko) went and told her (Townsend) she was uneducated and arrogant, what does that tell you about this sport in women's sports?" the reporter asked.

Swiatek's response was fairly bland.

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"I can't speak about every sport, because I don't have enough knowledge, you know. We're in this environment, we're in the tennis world, we're thinking about tennis mostly," she said.

"But, you know, I think obviously the world's changed throughout the years, and I know that there has been some issue yesterday, but honestly, I was so focused, I had (an) early match, so I wasn't really - I'm not caught up on that.

"I'm probably going to catch up today. But you can't really judge from (the) behaviour of one person the whole community."

The reporter wanted more.

"Do you see that there is a double standard when it comes to women's sports in terms of how you reacted or acted?" they inquired.

"I can't speak about the whole (of) women's sports," Swiatek continued.

"I'm a tennis player. I'm, like, 24. I haven't been playing soccer, I haven't been playing, I don't know, basketball.

"I don't know how it is in all women's sports.

"You have to ask someone experienced. Probably some people that have been working in different sports."

Swiatek was a little on edge at this point but things got seriously weird when a Polish reporter chimed in, asking her if she would follow Naomi Osaka's lead by wearing beads in her hair.

"What kind of question is that, excuse me? If I wanted to weave beads in my hair? No. What's going on here?"

Swiatek put her head in her hands at this point.

Osaka, meanwhile, was more forthright on the Townsend vs Ostapenko feud.

Ostapenko said on Instagram later that her anger stemmed from Townsend's refusal to apologise after winning a point at a pivotal moment when her ball clipped the net and stayed in play, as she accused the American of being "disrespectful."

The Latvian added in another statement that she had never been racist in her life, but Osaka weighed in saying the words Ostapenko used during the altercation were in bad taste.

"It's one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority White sport," the four-time grand slam champion said.

"I know Taylor and I know how hard she's worked and I know how smart she is, so she's the furthest thing from uneducated or anything like that."

Osaka, born to a Japanese mother and Haitian father, has been an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement both in the United States, where she resides, and in Japan and was lauded for supporting the campaign during her run to the Flushing Meadows title in 2020.

The 27-year-old had used her platform to highlight racial injustice in the United States to a wider audience by wearing a different black face mask - each bearing the name of an African American who had been killed in recent years - before each one of her seven matches.

"If you're like genuinely asking me about the history of Ostapenko, I don't think that's the craziest thing she's said. I'm going to be honest," Osaka continued with a smile.

"I think it's ill timing and the worst person you could have ever said it to. And I don't know if she knows the history of it in America.

"I know she's never going to say that ever again in her life. But yeah, it was just terrible. That's just really bad."

Shifting her attention to the main cause of the controversy, Osaka said that she would not care if an opponent apologised or not for a net cord.

"I definitely wouldn't care to the point where it would affect me that much that I get very angry," Osaka said.

"It's up to the person whether they apologise or not, but if it's really close, I can see why they don't apologise."

- with Reuters