Taylor Townsend's U.S. Open surge ends against Barbora Krecjikova
Taylor Townsend returns a shot against Barbora Krejcikova during the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Sunday. Credit: AP/Pamela Smith
A week ago, most of America had no idea who Taylor Townsend was.
In the span of seven days, Townsend became the second-most-visible Taylor in the country. Media outlets running the gamut from The Wall Street Journal to People.com to Town and Country ran stories on her. Top tennis players Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka shared words of support.
And on Sunday afternoon, a capacity crowd packed Louis Armstrong Stadium to catch the latest chapter in the story of the unseeded American who has proved she isn’t afraid to stand up for herself.
Unfortunately, it proved to be a rough final chapter in her remarkable U.S. Open run. The 29-year-old was unable to convert eight match points in a second set that ended with a 25-minute tiebreaker and was eliminated from the singles competition with a 1-6, 7-6 (13), 6-3 loss to Barbora Krejcikova.
Townsend, ranked 143rd, was attempting to reach the singles quarterfinals in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career.
A two-time major champion in doubles with playing partner Katerina Siniakova, Townsend was relatively unknown outside the tennis community until this past week, when she refused to back down in a confrontation with Jelena Ostapenko after her second-round victory over the Latvian.
Ostapenko, known for her on-court outbursts, shook her finger and demanded an apology from Townsend for some obscure breach of etiquette that occurred earlier in the match. When Townsend refused to apologize, Ostapenko told Townsend she had “no education” and “no class” in an exchange that went viral.
Townsend followed that win with a third-round upset of No. 5 Mirra Andreeva and seemed to be headed for big things. After easily winning her first set Saturday, everything seemed to be going her way. And then it wasn’t.
Her collapse in the 3-hour, 4-minute match was so dramatic and had so many blown chances that one had to wonder if all the attention and pressure of the last couple of days proved to be too much.
After hugging Krejcikova at the net, Townsend waved to fans before sobbing into a towel as she walked off the court. A little more than an hour later, she told reporters that this was her toughest loss, but she added that she was happy with the way she played and handled everything she went through this past week.
“It was, like, you know, I was so close, and it was literally like a point here and there, quite literally, that made the difference,” she said. “So it stings, but I’m proud of myself.
“I don’t think I’ve ever put on a performance like this. And even when I had gone deep in some tournaments or played well, it always was like, OK, she’s just on a run.
“I think more than anything, I gained the respect of everyone in the tennis world and put a lot of my competitors on notice that the things they were kind of, like, ooh, we think that she’s the type of player, but . . . I said it the other day, I really eliminated the ‘but’ and gained quite a lot of respect in the tennis world from both men and women. That’s great. I’m exactly where I need to be.”
Townsend, who is Black, also gained respect for the way she handled the altercation after the second round. Though she repeated what Ostapenko said to her, she declined to speculate on her opponent’s motivation. Several tennis players stepped up for her to explain why the words were hurtful.
“It’s obviously one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority white sport,” said Osaka, who is Asian. “And granted, I know Taylor and I know how hard she’s worked and I know how smart she is, so she’s the furthest thing from uneducated or anything like that.”
Three days after their match, Ostapenko apologized to Townsend on social media.
Townsend, still competing in the doubles competition, said she is happy that people who didn’t follow tennis closely got to know a little more about her this past week.
Said Townsend: “I truly believe that this was, this whole tournament has been a game-changer for me.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
