Taylor Townsend had the U.S. Open crowd on their feet and another opponent shaken up yet again on Friday night and in a more fun way this time around.
The world No. 1 doubles player had a tough third-round matchup against world No. 5 singles player Mirra Andreeva.
Nevertheless, she had the Russian slamming her racket into her knee over missteps and double faults to a breaking point that allowed her to cruise remarkably to a stunning 7-5, 6-2 victory in under 90 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It’s a win that comes after a few frustrating opening days at the year’s final Grand Slam.
After shaking hands, the American did her traditional archer celebration and ran over to her team and family.
The emotion could be seen on the Chicago native’s face as she relished in the beat down, and it showed in the on court interview as well.
Townsend knew the stage she had.
“It’s bigger than me. It’s about the message. It’s about the representation,” she said. “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.”
On Wednesday in her second-round singles match, Townsend was pulled into a minute-long conversation with Jelena Ostapenko after defeating her 7-5, 6-1.
Ostapenko had some choice words, calling Townsend “classless” and “uneducated.”
Fans quickly pointed to the racial undertone of the comments. In the aftermath, Townsend said she didn’t take them that way but saw the harmful stereotypes behind the words.
More than forty-eight hours later, she was no longer concerned with the drama.
“I said to my team, ‘I’m made for this type of stuff.’ I really feel like it wasn’t hard [to move on from] because I stood in my truth,” Townsend said in her press conference after Friday’s win. “I didn’t have to defend anything that I said. What I said, I said, and I meant. It was also good because I had doubles the next day.
“So, I had to get right back on the page because at the end of the day, I’ll never allow any drama or anything on the outside to deter me from what my goal is when I step into the lines on the court. When I step into those gates, nothing on the outside matters and that’s how I was raised and I’m really embodying that thought process.”
In the final game of the first set, Townsend went up 30-0 early but failed to clinch it. Nevertheless, a powerful serve that forced a bleak return from Andreeva did the job and the stadium roared in celebration for their home player.
Townsend and Andreeva each had their own breaks in the second set to make it tied 2-2, but the energy of the match didn’t reflect that. It was Townsend’s for the taking.
She went on to break Andreeva’s serve two more times before the Russian’s back-to-back overshot forehands won the American the match. It was Townsend’s second time beating a top 10 player on Ashe — No. 4 Simon Halep in 2019 in three sets.
Since the week’s events, Townsend’s name has floated around more among casual tennis fans. Her Instagram following has roughly doubled and she had the night owl fans giving her a standing ovation in what was the first introduction to her for many.
“I’m embracing it and enjoying it. Like I said, it’s cool because I’m just showing up as myself so I don’t have to be anything else but me…” she said. “I’m just truly showing up as myself, and I think people see that and I think it’s cool they like what I see.”
Townsend has only gone as far as the fourth-round in the U.S. Open singles draw, and not further in any of the three other Grand Slams. On Sunday, she will get to test her limits yet again when she faces Barbora Krejcikova, who beat Emma Navarro on Friday.
