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Taylor Townsend reveals what Venus Williams said to her after the Jelena Ostapenko controversy at the US Open

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Taylor Townsend will be looking to build on a strong US Open campaign as she heads into the latter portion of 2025.

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During the American’s run to the US Open fourth round, she had to deal with a rather spiky confrontation with Jelena Ostapenko.

After Townsend’s victory, Ostapenko berated Townsend at the net for apparently failing to apologise for a point won on a net cord during the match.

During the confrontation, Ostapenko labelled Townsend as uneducated. These comments were widely criticised, with Naomi Osaka saying they were ‘terrible.’

Following the US Open, Townsend has revealed what seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams said to her following the incident.

Venus Williams told Taylor Townsend ‘I don’t apologise because I don’t mean it’ after the Jelena Ostapenko incident

Speaking on The Pivot Podcast, Townsend detailed what Venus Williams told her after the confrontation with Ostapenko.

Townsend said: “Do you know what Venus told me? She said I have only apologised one time in my life. She is like I don’t apologise because I don’t mean it.

“When we played Venus she tried to put the ball through my partner’s stomach. She hit this ball so hard when we played her!

“I said she tried to take you out! And she didn’t put her hand up. But that’s okay. It’s competition!”

Townsend knows all about playing the five-time Wimbledon champion, having faced her twice in recent months.

Taylor Townsend says it was ‘surreal’ to play Venus Williams

The American star has battled against Venus Williams at two tournaments recently: the Washington Open and the US Open.

In Washington, Townsend and her doubles partner, Zhang Shuai, emerged victorious from a tough-fought contest, defeating Williams and Hailey Baptiste, 6-4 3-6 10-6.

In New York, Townsend and Katerina Siniakova comfortably defeated Williams and Leylah Fernandez, 6-1 6-2.

After the tournament, Townsend reflected on the experience of playing Venus, saying: “It was honestly surreal for me. It was really cool. Especially being able to experience that there. I have looked up to her and Serena for years, and it’s been really cool to be able to have accessibility to them on a personal level.

“I got the closest with Serena when I was pregnant. I went over to her house and she put a whole Amazon list together for me for all the things I needed to get for the baby.

“Those times were the most conversation that I have ever had with her. I know even in our culture competition is competition, I don’t care who it is. But when we are in this competition, we are not buddies.

“So being around them even for so many years on tour, it was never like [really friendly]. It was like you are out here and you’re another piece of competition, if I have to take you out, I will take you out.

“So it was a cool experience to share the court with her but it was interesting because I had played Venus in DC a couple of weeks prior to that. And we beat her in a tiebreaker, she played with Hailey Baptiste.

“I called my coach, and I remember on the court I was so mad at myself, because I felt like I allowed everything around who Venus is and what she represented and what she represented to me, and it completely took me out of being true to myself and the player I am.

“I am going to go straight through you, I am not hitting around you. You can see. As soon as the ball goes up the girls turn around, it is known.

“But I felt when I played her in DC I was hitting around. I didn’t want to hit it too hard. It was all of this psychological stuff going through my head, and I called my coach and said I didn’t like the way I showed up, even though we won.

“So this time we played her in New York, and it was obviously a much bigger stage, a lot more going on around it.

“I just said I am going to go and play tennis, and I don’t care who is on the other side of the net.”

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Paige Spiranac’s surprising NFL fandom confession triggers heated debate over loyalty, authenticity, and fan culture

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The 2026 NFL Draft starts Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and the spotlight isn’t only on prospects and front offices. Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has again found herself pulled into NFL conversation, this time for her open support of multiple teams.

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With the Steelers hosting the first round, her long-standing connection to Pittsburgh has resurfaced. But it’s not just about hometown ties. Her broader fandom, which stretches beyond one franchise, continues to draw mixed reactions at a time when fan loyalty is often treated as non-negotiable.

Paige Spiranac roots for 2 NFL teams: Who are they?

Paige Spiranac has never hidden where her loyalties lie, even if they don’t fit the usual mold. She has consistently pointed to her roots while leaving space for other allegiances.

“Both my parents are from Pittsburgh so I’ve been a Steelers ..fan since the day I was born. I also love the Bills. It’s a complicated relationship…Who’s your team?” she previously asked her followers. It’s a candid admission, one that reflects personal history more than calculated fandom.

Still, the reaction has been sharp. NFL culture tends to rew ..

 

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Quiet moments on the course can say a lot about what’s coming next.

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Sometimes the most important work happens when nobody is really watching.
Lexi Thompson was out on the 18th green, working through her putting during a practice round ahead of the Chevron Championship in Houston.

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It’s a simple scene, but it shows the kind of quiet preparation that goes into these big tournaments—getting the feel of the greens, adjusting to conditions, and building trust in every stroke.

These are the small details that can shape how a player starts when the pressure kicks in.

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Predicting what will happen to Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson if LIV Golf collapses

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It looks like LIV Golf is over.

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The Saudi Public Investment Fund has reportedly decided that this league simply isn’t worth the hole it’s burning in their pocket, and they’re pulling funds at the end of 2026.

That gives them less than a year to seek new investment. While CEO Scott O’Neil seems confident, it’s going to be extremely difficult to secure funding for a league that is operating at such eye-watering losses.

So this probably pulls the curtain closed on one of the most turbulent, frustrating, confusing, and ridiculous eras in golfing history. Hopefully, we can all return to some reality after the year is over.

But there is still so much uncertainty surrounding golf’s future thanks to this. Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed saw the signs early and jumped ship, but they did that with some leverage. So what on earth is going to happen to the rest of these players who didn’t take the olive branch when it was offered to them?

Feelings will be hurt, and careers will be ended. Let’s take a look.

Jon Rahm rejoins the PGA Tour

Koepka returned to the PGA Tour under the returning member program, which saw him pay $5 million to charity, accept that he’ll receive no FedEx Cup bonus money, and agree he cannot be a sponsor exemption for the 2026 signature events.

 

That same deal was offered to Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. They didn’t accept it, but a similar offer will likely be handed out to them again.

 

If LIV Golf folds, Rahm will not hold the same leverage as Koepka did, but he is a bigger star at this stage of his career. Make no mistake, the PGA Tour will want him back immediately.

But Rahm does risk leaving himself without any options at all. Reed didn’t come straight back to the PGA Tour, so he’s spending a year on the DP World Tour first. You’d imagine Rahm would consider doing the same, but it might not be so easy for him.

Rahm is in a feud with the DP World Tour, as the only one of eight players to reject a deal which would have seen him retain his full-time membership. If Rahm agreed to play in six DP World Tour events this year, then he could have played on both LIV Golf and the tour. He did not agree.

For now, his membership is at risk. So, will it be possible for him to spend a season on the DP World Tour like Reed? Maybe not. That makes it all the more likely that Rahm will be back on the PGA Tour the moment LIV folds.

Bryson DeChambeau does YouTube full-time

With DeChambeau, I don’t think it’s as much of a done deal that he returns to the PGA Tour. Not immediately anyway.

He’s been negotiating his contract with LIV, which expires at the end of this season. During these negotiations, he’s made it very clear that he is completely willing to step away from full-time competition and be a full-time YouTuber.

DeChambeau’s channel has over two million subscribers, so he could feasibly do that with all of the money he’s making there.

He was annoyed to see LIV move to a four-day format, so he could commit himself fully to being the content king. It would be a wild thing to do, but it’s also exactly the kind of move you could see the two-time major winner making.

He could qualify for The Open Championship and the US Open, and earn enough points there to play The Masters and the PGA Championship. It’s possible.

He does seem to live for competition, so maybe YouTube won’t quite scratch the itch, but it is on the table for DeChambeau. At least for a year until his suspension expires. Out of Rahm and DeChambeau, the American is absolutely the least likely to take a deal.

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