Taylor Townsend has captured the headlines at the US Open this year, and she might still end up with some silverware to show for her efforts.
Townsend was asked about her singles career during week one when she came through three matches before losing to Barbora Krejcikova in the last 16.
The 29-year-old had a very public spat with Jelena Ostapenko in round two, with plenty of players raging at the Latvian for what she’d said to Townsend.
Andy Roddick was very critical of Ostapenko for her antics at the US Open, but she didn’t dwell on that spat and would go on and beat Mirra Andreeva in the next round.
Townsend sent a message to her fans after blowing eight match points against Krejcikova and although the singles offered a setback, there is still some hope for a doubles title.
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Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez hailed Townsend before the quarterfinal match, but they provided no resistance to the dominance of the American and Katerina Siniakova.
Townsend and her Czech partner are the number one seeds for the women’s doubles at this tournament and together the pair won Wimbledon in 2024 and the Australian Open earlier this year.
After coming through the quarterfinal 6-2, 6-1, Townsend was asked on the state of women’s doubles and it’s fair to say it’s a concept of the game that she’s really enjoying.
She said: “I think the state of women’s doubles is in a really, really cool space. I think one of the cool things and unique things about where we are is that there are new partnerships.
“You are able to see people who have been playing for maybe not so long, or maybe only a year or a season or two, come together and do really well.
“I think that it’s exciting and I think there are some players, a lot of the players who are on this side also play singles as well, so they all have individual fan bases that are coming together and I think it’s been really cool for Kat and I because it’s like a merging of worlds which would never cross if it wasn’t for tennis.
“I have Czech fans, and she is getting support here in the US that she has probably never gotten before. She has spoken about how it’s been so nice to have the home crowd and the crowd on our side.
“So I mean it’s really fun, it’s exciting to spearhead this and both of us have always spoken about how doubles is no less of a game and no less of a sport.
“It’s equally as hard and it just takes different skills. But it takes the same amount of discipline, focus and intensity. It just requires different skills and Kat and I, I feel, are leading the way in terms of being very vocal and trying to change the narrative in what people feel and think about doubles. [Where people] are trying to box you in and saying if you do well in doubles, you can’t also be a good singles player.
“But I feel like she has been doing this for many, many years and consistently.
“I am just getting started in it, but I feel like we are really spearheading that narrative of trying to change that mentality in people’s minds that you don’t have to choose a box. You can be everywhere or do everything, and Kat always says, as long as your body allows you, you are going to do both. I can’t agree with that more, as long as I can continue to play and handle the load, I am going to do both.”
Townsend can take a lot from US Open
After coming through matches against Ostapenko and Andreeva, it’s fair to say that Townsend has been one of the big talking points of the 2025 US Open.
Although the player is currently ranked at 143 in the WTA rankings, there is hope that she can get back inside the world’s top 100 in the near future.
At 29, the chances of Townsend winning a Grand Slam in singles feel slim, but beating the players she has at this tournament should give her a lot of heart.
The run to the fourth round at this year’s event equals her best Flushing Meadows foray from 2019 and it will be interesting to see if this does give her some confidence for next year.
In the here and now, the women’s doubles crown will be firmly in her sights and with how the duo keep blowing teams away at the moment, the title feels like a foregone conclusion.