Taylor Townened exited the singles draw of the US Open on Sunday in the most devastating way.
The American tennis star lost to Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows after astoundingly blowing eight match points.
Tennis star Taylor Townsend breaks down in tears after blowing eight match points at the US Open
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Townsend reflected on a brutal and emotional loss in New York
Townsend looked set to make the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career after taking the first set 6-1 against Krejcikova.
Wild second set tiebreak decides Townsend-Krejcikova match
When she had her first match point in the second set, it looked all but certain we would see the 29-year-old in the next round.
However, Townsend let that match point go, and all of a sudden, found herself in a tiebreak to decide the second set winner.
That tiebreak would go on to deliver some of the most epic points in recent memory.
Townsend lost a further seven match points to Krejcikova, who went on to take the tiebreak 15-13 and the set.
Unfortunately for Townsend’s compatriots in the crowd, from that point on, it was business as usual for Krejcikova.
The 2024 Wimbledon winner took home the third set 6-3 and dumped Townsend out of the singles competition.
While Townsend still has some chance of silverware in New York, as she and partner Katerina Siniakova are the No.1 seeds in the women’s doubles, it didn’t stop her emotions from coming out at the end of the match.
Townsend couldn’t stop crying and buried her head in her towel after losing a match that began so well for her.
Townsend was consoled by her son after excruciating loss
When talking to the media, Townsend revealed that while she was still deeply emotional, it was her son who provided much-needed words of comfort to her.
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After taking the first set, it looked like Townsend was on her way to the quarterfinalsCredit: GETTY
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Mistakes saw Townsend drop the second set before losing the third and the matchCredit: GETTY
“I told AJ I was like, ‘wow, you stayed there the whole time?’ It was over three hours,” she revealed.
“And he said, sat there, and when I was talking to my coach when she was on the bathroom break, he was like, ‘if you need anything, I got you just ask me’. I’m like, ‘okay’. It’s nice to be able to have that.
“I was in the cool-down area. And he was like, ‘Hey, mom, let’s work out together’. And I’m like, ‘Sir, I just played three hours. I don’t want to work out’. He’s like, ‘let’s do some squats’. I’m like, ‘I’m good’.
“So, you know, that’s the kid thing, where it’s just like, they have no idea. And I actually said it because I wanted to know what he was going to say.
“I was like, ‘yeah’. He was like, ‘Good job mom’. I was like, ‘Thanks’. I was like, ‘AJ I lost’. He was like, ‘It’s okay’. And I was like, ‘That’s the attitude’. So I’m trying to embody that.”
Townsend, who was hailed for how she handled Jelena Ostapenko in the previous round, also claimed that her run that this year’s tournament has led to her tennis peers respecting her even more.
Emotional Coco Gauff in floods of tears thanking Simone Biles after joining rare club with US Open victory
“I don’t think that 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, ‘oh, okay, she’s just on a run,’” she began.
“And I think that, you know, you know, more than anything, I gained the respect of, you know, everyone in the tennis world, you know, and put a lot of my competitors on notice that the things that they were kind of like, ‘ooh, we think that she’s this type of player’.
“But I think I said it the other day. I really eliminated the but and gained quite a lot of respect in the tennis world, both from men and women. So that’s great, but I’m exactly where I need to be. It feels good.”
Dramatic US Open continues with Osaka and Gauff clash
The US Open hasn’t been short of controversy and dramatic moments, despite the main draw only beginning last week.
After Ostapenko’s comments to Townsend, Aryna Sabalenka weighed in on the tense moment that sparked global headlines.
Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek had to bat off a bizarre question about hair from a reporter in a press conference.
And we won’t have to wait long for some more fireworks, as Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff face each other on Monday for a place in the quarterfinals, a matchup that is not short of its own history.
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