NEW YORK:

Jelena Ostapenko issued an apology on Saturday for her US Open tirade at that triggered accusations of racism.

The Latvian player sparked uproar on Wednesday after her angry on-court rant following her defeat to African American player Townsend in the second round.

Ostapenko accused Townsend of having "no education" and "no class", remarks that prompted a social media backlash accusing her of racism.

Ostapenko, who had already issued a separate statement denying racism, said Saturday she could see how her "no education" comment had caused offence.

"I wanted to apologize for some of the things I said during my second round singles match," Ostapenko wrote on Instagram.

"English is not my native language, so when I said education, I was speaking about what I believe was tennis

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