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Taylor Townsend had the U.S. Open crowd on its feet and another opponent shaken up yet again Friday night.
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, and she remarkably cruised 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 the beatdown, and it showed in the on-court interview.
“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 on one of the outer courts on the grounds.
Ostapenko had some choice words, calling Townsend “classless” and “uneducated.” Fans quickly pointed to the racial undertone of the comments. In her post-match news conference, Townsend said she didn’t take them that way but saw the harmful stereotypes behind the words.
More than 48 hours later, she was over 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,” she 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 at 40-15 did the job, and the stadium roared in celebration of the American.
Townsend and Andreeva then each had their own breaks and the second set was 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.
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.
