Unseeded Taylor Townsend won a massive 7-5, 6-2 victory over No. 5 seeded Mira Andreva in the third round of the 2025 US Open on Friday night. With this victory, Townsend returned to 16 rounds in New York for the first time since 2019, and those who stayed at Arthur Ashe Stadium until almost midnight issued a statement.
“God, this feels good,” Townsend said after winning. “What I want to say is welcome to the show. I’ve put a lot of effort into it.
“I want to dedicate this victory to the coach. We were blood, sweat, tears. And to my son AJ. He’ll be here tomorrow, so this feels so good.”
Towsend won the first set against Wimbledon quarterfinals from an injury. She lost some of that momentum in the second set as she fell behind 0-2, but she quickly recovered and won the next three games.
Andreva sat on a bench covering her face with a towel, trying to get her calm. However, the 18-year-old from Russia seemed visibly upset and again found her rhythm. During that time, Townsend was playing smart and had a lot of power. Her backhand and serve were effective while she was cleaning up the opponent.
Townsend was destructive and offensive, earning 21 of 29 net points. She also had 23 winners compared to Andreva’s only six.
I felt the post-match atmosphere was very different from Wednesday when Townsend defeated Jelena Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1. They went into the post-match spat and Townsend said her opponent told her “no class.” On Friday, Townsend emphasized that he wanted to maintain “the main ones.”
Watch: Taylor Townsend, Jerena Ostapenko joins post-match spat
Zachary Pereles
“I want to thank everyone who has supported me over the past 48 hours. It’s bigger than me,” Townsend said, referring to the incident. “It’s about the message. It’s about expression. It’s about bold and you can show up like you are. I think you all saw the real Taylor Townsend tonight.”
Townsend is the third American to reach the 16th round and will join No. 4 seed Jessica Pegra and unseeded Ann Lee this weekend, heading towards each other. Townsend will face Czech star Barbola Klehikova on Sunday.
She has never done that further in the singles competitions in major tournaments, but Townsend said she has no intention of changing anything with her approach.
“We’re in business with this team,” Townsend said. “Nothing will change… the job isn’t finished. I’m happy with what I did tonight, but we’re still in business and we’re continuing here in New York.”
