Taylor Townsend undoubtedly carved 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 Mira Andreva 7-5, 6-2 in the third round of the US, moving on to the fourth round of the second Grand Slam of her career. It was her third victory over the top 10 opponents of her career.
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“This feels good,” Townsend said after the game. “I’ve put a lot of effort into it.”
Andreva, 18, who won Dubai and Indiana Wells this year, appeared to be controlling with a quick break to get a 2-0 lead in the first set, but Townsend then ruled. Her serve and net game slammed her racket on her feet at one point in frustration.
Andreeva finished the match with just six winners on Townsend’s 23, 25 forced errors. Townsend has become more powerful and mobile, so the match wasn’t particularly close.
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Townsend also enjoyed the advantages of his home court at Arthur Ash Stadium. The post-match run-in with fellow doubles star Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday is said to have told her she had no class or education following her 7-5, 6-1 victory.
Taylor Townsend is causing us to get into trouble. (Photo by Robert Plunge/Getty Images)
(Robert Plunge via Getty Images)
Ostapenko, who lost to a Townsend pair in the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open and defeated her in the Wimbledon semi-final, defended herself by saying she was “very rude” for not apologizing for winning with a netcode that died while playing.
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Townsend acknowledged both the prejudice of the crowd who cheered her loudly during the match and the Ostapenko incident on Friday.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported me over the past 48 hours. It’s bigger than me. It’s about the message, about expression. It’s about being bold and able to show up like you are, and I think you saw the real Taylor Townsend tonight.”
Drama aside, this victory is a major step for Townsend as a singles player. Currently ranked 139th in the world by the WTA, Townsend has been hanging in the singles world for over a decade, increasing the rankings of doubles. She never won the WTA single title or reached the tournament final.
As she was giving her victory to her coach and son, Townsend shook the difficult facts of her career from above her head. She hasn’t reached the 16th round since 2019. She hadn’t played the night at Ash since facing final champion Bianca Andreesque that same year. She spoke like someone who fully knew that victory represented a new high point in her career.
Townsend is one of three American women who have so far advanced to 16 rounds, along with No. 4 seed Jesspegra and unseeded Anley. No. 3 Seed Coco Gauff and No. 8 Seed Amanda Anisimova both play on Saturday.
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Townsend will face fellow seedless player Barbora Klezikova in the next singles match Sunday in the first Grand Slam quarterfinals of her career. But before that, she had morning games on Saturdays in the doubles bracket. There, she and her partner Kathegina Syniakova are the No. 1 seed.
