FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Taylor Townsend had her moment on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Tactical ingenuity, a wave of home support and a spiral from world No. 5 Mirra Andreeva helped the American, who is world No. 1 in doubles but world No. 139 in singles, to overcome a gap of 134 spots in the world rankings. Townsend surged into the fourth round of the U.S. Open singles for the first time since 2019, beating Andreeva 7-5, 6-2 on the biggest stage in the sport.
Townsend, 30, had become the biggest story of the tournament even before Friday night and the early hours of Saturday morning, for reasons that no athlete wishes to take over an event. At the end of a 7-5, 6-1 win over Jelena Ostapenko, the Latvian accosted Townsend over a net cord earlier in the match and appeared to tell her that she had “no education.” Townsend later said in an on-court interview with ESPN that Ostapenko also told her she had “no class.”
48 hours later, Townsend was standing on the biggest stadium in tennis, looking forward to a last-16 clash with two-time Grand Slam singles champion Barbora Krejčíková. It will be her second last-16 appearance at a major, and first since reaching the same stage here six years ago.
“It’s bigger than me. It’s about the representation. It’s about being bold and being able to show up as yourself,” Townsend said in her on-court interview.
In her news conference following the Ostapenko match, Townsend had said that she had let her “racket talk.” And how she let it talk against Andreeva. Going into the match, there were fears that Townsend might show signs of weariness after what must have been a frazzling couple of days.
This was a whole other level, with a busy crowd on Arthur Ashe despite the match starting at around 10:30 p.m. and it being Labor Day weekend. Those with tickets knew that Townsend is one of the tour’s most entertaining players, with her willingness to get to the net giving her something of a throwback feel.
That, plus her leftiness, makes her an awkward, unconventional opponent, which, coupled with a raucous crowd, was a tricky proposition for Andreeva. She’s achieved so much in her career that it’s easy to forget Andreeva is only 18. Occasionally, her age comes through, as when she imploded against home favourite Loïs Boisson in similar circumstances at the French Open a couple of months ago.
The initial signs were that it was Townsend who might struggle with the occasion. She was broken in her first service game and looked nervous. But she broke back immediately and started to have joy targeting the Andreeva forehand. Townsend was two points from losing the first set when serving at 4-5, 30-30, but she was brave and held after another successful foray to the net.
It proved to be a turning point, as Andreeva let out her first big sign of frustration at the end of the game. In the next game, she swatted a ball away after a double fault, and was furious when Townsend broke with the ultimate throwback tactic: the chip and charge, where a player hits an approach shot with their return and rushes the net.
Townsend served it out nervelessly, and the crowd was on their feet. The second set followed the same pattern as the first, with Townsend broken early but breaking straight back for 2-1.
At this point, Townsend slammed on the accelerator as Andreeva went into a tailspin. The American was returning aggressively, demolishing the Andreeva forehand, and won the next four games to leave herself serving for the match at 5-2. Townsend took the match at the first time of asking, raised her arms and looked to the sky.
It has been a long journey to this point for a former junior world No. 1 who was tipped to be the next big thing in tennis but has taken a more circuitous route. Townsend was denied a wild card for the 2012 U.S. Open by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) following a disagreement with her family over whether she was fit enough to play. Townsend’s mother, Sheila, a former college tennis player, told The Wall Street Journal that the family perceived the decision as an attack on Townsend’s physique. In an essay for the Players’ Tribune, published in 2021, Townsend said that she had anemia at the time of the decision, which had an effect on her fitness.
In a statement issued during the tournament thirteen years ago, Patrick McEnroe, who revamped the USTA player development program alongside Jose Higueras in 2008, spoke only in general terms.
“Our concern is her long-term health, number one, and her long-term development as a player. We have one goal in mind: For her to be playing in [Arthur Ashe Stadium] in the main draw and competing for major titles when it’s time. That’s how we make every decision, based on that.”
It was just one of many obstacles Townsend has overcome. She hasn’t had a clothing sponsor since 2017, and is wearing clothes she has designed herself for this event.
Now she is the star of the U.S. Open, and on Friday night, it felt like the whole of New York was with her.
In an interview earlier this week, Townsend was clear in her tennis mission.
“I said that I wanted to create and have a legacy,” she said. “And that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
(Photo: Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)
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