Grand Slam chiefs were accused of going back on their word before US Open star's defeat

Jelena Ostapenko was left seething after accusing US Open organisers of going back on their word regarding her 2023 match against Coco Gauff. The Latvian star, who was knocked out in the second round at Flushing Meadows by Taylor Townsend this year, had made it to the quarter-finals two years prior after a stunning victory over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.

Ostapenko was set to face Gauff in the quarter-finals, and after her late-night win over Swiatek, she claims she was assured her match against the American would be scheduled for the evening.

However, the duo were actually slated to play at midday local time, with Gauff trouncing Ostapenko 6-0 6-2 before going on to clinch her first Grand Slam titleafter defeating Aryna Sabalenka in three sets.

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In the wake of her defeat to Gauff, the former French Open winner bemoaned her insufficient recovery time following her triumph over Swiatek, stating: "I think it's really hard to recover from those night matches, because after beating world No. 1, I went to sleep at, like, 5:00 in the morning, and still, you sleep for, I don't know, maybe like seven, eight hours, but you completely don't recover.

"Yesterday the whole day I felt very low energy. I thought today I was, like, going to wake up and feel better. But honestly, I didn't really feel much better. I got back to the hotel around, like, 2:00am and even I tried to go to sleep at 3:00 in the morning but I had all this adrenaline and it was impossible to fall asleep," reports the Express.

"Then when you go to sleep at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning, the whole day where you need a few days just to recover. I think it's a little bit crazy." Ostapenko revealed she was bewildered by her 12pm start after talks with the tournament's organisers left her certain she'd instead play her quarter-final encounter at night.

"The thing was that when I asked the day before, I was pretty sure I'm gonna play at night session, because that's what they told me," she added. "When the schedule came out, I saw I'm playing first match and was, like, wow, that's a little bit strange scheduling.

"Honestly, I thought at least maybe I play second where I thought our match will be interesting match and they would probably put it as a night session, especially she is from here. Yeah, when I saw the schedule I was a little bit surprised, not in a really good way.

"I mean, you never know with the people who are doing schedule, because sometimes you feel like you better don't ask anything, because sometimes it's working your way or sometimes it's working against you completely. It depends where and how it's gonna work."

Ostapenko, meanwhile, faced widespread condemnation for her behaviour after losing to Townsend at this year's tournament, where she pointed her finger in the American's face moments after her 7-5 6-1 defeat.

The 29-year-old insisted in her post-match press conference that she was accused of having "no education" and "no class". The Latvian tennis player issued an apology for her remarks, denying any racial undertones. "I wanted to apologise for some of the things I said during my second-round singles match," she posted on social media.

"English is not my native language so when I said education, I was speaking only about what I believe as tennis etiquette, but I understand how the words I used could have offended many people beyond the tennis court.

"I appreciate the support as I continue to learn and grow as a person and a tennis player. Goodbye New York and I look forward to being back next year."