*Flushing, New York – Done and dusted. Taylor Townsend upset the no. 5 seed, Mira Andreeva, in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, on Friday night. She’s into a Slam singles 4th round for only the second time in her pro career.
It was a spirited night on Ashe, with old, as well as new fans there who may not have even known her before she was called “classless and uneducated.” But the doubles champion, entrepreneur, and mother overcame the insult and all that “new attention” and brought her A-game to knock out her heavily favored opponent, Andreeva. The expectations were high, and Taylor “showed up.”
“I feel like today I leveled up,” she said. “I’m really just so proud of myself. I’m so proud of the way I showed up tonight, the way that I handled business, the way I kept my head on.”
She’ll next face former No. 2-ranked Barbora Krejčíková (currently 61) of the Czech Republic.
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But before you go, if you’re just learning Taylor Townsend’s name, here are 5 reasons you should get to know and speak it:
1. Taylor Townsend is resilient and believes in herself – Taylor has had a long tennis career… but it’s had its ups and downs. She began honing her tennis skills in Chicago as a young girl, which culminated in her taking the junior world by storm. She won several Junior Slams and became the ITF‘s Junior World Champion for finishing the year No. 1 in the girls’ rankings. That set the stage for her pro career. But things didn’t go as planned once she tried to enter the big leagues. Instead of judging Taylor by her resume, the powers that be judged her by her weight. They felt like she needed to look like every other girl on tour, svelte and wiry. But she was a little black girl, and they’re not always built that way. So, there was hesitance to back her as a pro, and she basically had to make her own way if she wanted to continue her career. But instead of sulking and swearing off tennis, she hung in there and did make her own way, powered by her self-belief and resilience.
“You know, for me, the confidence is I’m glad that you guys see it, but it’s something that’s pure, and it’s something that’s just me. I’m just here. I’m on full display, I’m not hiding, I’m not scared to show my true colors. I’m not scared to open up my vest and show you guys vulnerability or how I’m feeling or anything like that.”
“I feel like that’s indicative of my career, me as a person, me as a woman, me as a player.”
2. Taylor is a conscientious and responsible mother. Taylor Townsend took a break from the tour in 2020 and gave birth to a baby boy, Ayden Aubrey. She stayed away long enough from tennis to make sure he had a strong foundation, and now that she’s returned to the sport, how she carries herself is based on how she feels her son will view her once he’s old enough to research his mother’s career.
“I stood up for myself, and I kept in my mind in that moment how I wanted to portray myself and how I wanted to show up, and if my son were to see this interaction, how would he view it? I think he would be proud of the way that I handled the situation,” she said.
3. Taylor is an entrepreneur – Taylor Townsend recently launched her own independent clothing brand – TT – to provide tennis apparel for herself and the public, after being dropped by her then-sponsor, Nike, and was unable to find another. The kit she’s wearing at the 2025 US Open is from her line, bearing a design that she feels represents her spirit:
“I think that’s one of the reasons why I did the phoenix kit for myself. You know, like I said, a phoenix is, you know, a made-up creature, but the premise is you having to burn or lose your old self to emerge as something new,” she said. “I feel like that’s indicative of my career, me as a person, me as a woman, me as a player,” she said of her clothing venture.”
“Even my kit before the US Open, like, in D.C. and Cincinnati and all that, the theme was gems, and we were pulling on, you know, diamond in the rough, and with a diamond, it’s when it’s rough you don’t know what it looks like, but when it’s polished, it’s beautiful. … all the things that I’ve gone through, you know, it’s only been polishing and shaping and molding. Now you guys see the nice shiny object.”
4. Taylor is a proud black woman – Taylor Townsend knows she’s a black woman. And she doesn’t apologize for it. She has a solid alliance with other black players on tour, Coco Gauff, Chris Eubanks, former player, Donald Young, etc She knows we must stick together. On top of that, she honors her predecessors and isn’t afraid to stand for black causes.
“First off, yeah. I mean, representation is everything,” she said. “I honor that and represent myself in a certain type of way and represent for us, you know, by the way that I carry myself, the way that I speak, the way that I act.”
“So representation is everything, because you have to see it to believe it, even if it’s just one, and I think that’s so special, especially with us honoring Althea Gibson because she was the first woman of color to show up and pave the way for us, and everyone to be here, honestly … because, you know, it’s such a rich history and rich culture.”
5. Taylor is emotionally intelligent – one of the toughest tests of her composure she’s had to face as a player, a racial jab at her class and intellect, she handled with grace and, yes, class that’s earned her respect by fans both old and new. She’s embraced every step of her life and athletic journey, learning how to control her emotions and read rooms, while preserving her strong sense of self.
“If I allow what other people have to say about me to affect me in that way, then they win,” she said.
“This is one of the reasons why I love sports. You know, to be able to watch the tension and watch things and to see how someone can handle themselves in the moment. You know, how they handled their emotions, how they handle ups and downs, how they handle momentum shifts, you know, things that are thrown in the mix of whether it’s to try and break your rhythm, break your momentum, how do they handle it mentally?
That’s who Taylor Townsend, the woman behind the drama, is, and she’s the complete package. This is why you should make it a point to know her name and speak it to your kids.
Catch her next match against Krejčíková this Sunday (08-31-25). Check your local listings.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Naomi Osaka Condemns Jelena Ostapenko’s US Open Remark Toward Taylor Townsend | VIDEO
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