Taylor Townsend is in the spotlight at the US Open as a result of an interaction she wishes had never taken place.

Townsend said Jelena Ostapenko told her she had “no class” and “no education” during a face-to-face argument after their second-round match on Wednesday.

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A huge crowd cheered her on in doubles on Thursday, and Townsend made the most of a spot in prime time at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night, upsetting fifth-seeded Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-2.

Going into this Grand Slam, Townsend had nowhere near the star power or the name recognition of fellow Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, and she is not even seeded in singles play. Yet the 29-year-old, who is half of the top-ranked women’s doubles team in the world and was No 1 as a junior player, has become one of the biggest stories of the tournament through no fault of her own.

“It’s bigger than me,” she said on the court after the match. “It’s about the message, it’s about the representation, it’s about being bold and being able to show up as yourself and I did that tonight. You guys saw the real Taylor Townsend tonight.”

Townsend hopes the attention around the confrontation and her calling attention to it can be a positive for the US Open and tennis in general.

“If I’m someone who can draw huge crowds into the stadiums as a name that can bring people to come and buy tickets and support the game, then that’s a crown that I’ll gladly wear,” Townsend said. “Whatever that it is, whatever type of attention that it brought, it’s doing the right things, which is bring people to see the sport and bringing people in to support and that’s what it’s all about.”

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Townsend, who is Black, and Ostapenko, who is from Latvia, had an intense back-and-forth after Townsend won in straight sets. When asked if she thought the comments had racial undertones, Townsend said she didn’t take it that way but acknowledged, “That has been a stigma in our community of being ‘not educated’ and all of the things, when it’s the furthest thing from the truth.”

Gauff and Naomi Osaka were among those who publicly came to Townsend’s defence. Osaka called what Townsend reported Ostapenko as saying, “one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority white sport.”

Even privately, Townsend said other players came up to her to broach the subject and express their support. Online, she gained thousands of social media followers.

“It’s cool to know that people see you and people are watching and more than anything,” Townsend said. “I was hoping that it was received a certain type of way, and it was, so it was just external validation that I handled things the right way and that’s what I’m the most proud of and the most happy with. I wasn’t looking for that, and in my answers and when I decided and I spoke and I said what I said I wasn’t looking for those things, but it’s nice to know that I made people proud.”

Townsend is in the fourth round at the US Open, more than a decade after the US Tennis Association decided to hold her out of junior competition over concerns about her fitness. The organisation in 2012 withheld funding for her tournament appearances while she focused on getting in better shape.

In the intervening time, she has become dominant in doubles, winning Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open earlier this year with partner Katerina Siniakova, and the pair is the top seed in Flushing Meadows.

Townsend, who has not gotten past the fourth round in singles at a major, will face two-time Grand Slam singles champion Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday.

If she reaches the quarterfinals this time, she wants the lesson to be that it is OK to stand up for yourself.

“Sometimes I feel like in society, especially people of colour, we are expected to be silenced, or sometimes there are times where we have to decide and be very strategic as to when we speak up, and in these type of moments, it’s important for me to speak up, not only for myself but for my culture,” Townsend said.

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“No matter what, no matter what attention comes or whatever, I think it’s about being unapologetically yourself, be happy in who you are and never allow anyone to take you out of your character and who you are as a person.”