Taylor Townsend notched arguably the biggest win of her career on Friday, two days after the most talked-about incident of her career.
The American knocked off No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-2 in the third round of the US Open, advancing to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the second time of her decade-plus career. It was the third win over a top-10 opponent of her career.
Advertisement
“God damn this feels good,” Townsend said after the match. “I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work.”
Townsend enjoyed a significant home-court advantage, and not just because she was playing in her home country. Her post-match run-in with fellow doubles star Jelena Ostapenko, in which the Latvian allegedly told her she had no class or education, generated widespread support around Flushing Meadows.