American Taylor Townsand On Friday night, Arthur Ash Stadium was the highest space in prime time, which is fifth seeded. Mirra Andreva 7-5, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of US Open for the first time since 2019.
After going to this Grand Slam tournament, the Townsend had no anywhere with Star Power or the name of fellow Americans was recognized. Coco goff And Jessica pegulaAnd he is not in single game. Nevertheless, Townsand, which is half of the women’s doubles team in the top position in the world and was number 1 as a junior player, has become one of the biggest stories of the tournament after her postmatch argument. Jelna Ostapaneko And the subsequent discourse.
The 29 -year -old Townsend said on the court after the match, “It is bigger than me.” “It’s about the message. It’s about the representation. It is about being bold and is able to show itself and I have done it tonight. You guys saw the real Taylor Townsend tonight.”
Townsend hopes that the spotlight from conflict and attracting her attention can be normally positive for the US Open and tennis.
“If I am someone who can draw a huge crowd in stadiums as a name that can bring people to come and buy tickets and support the game, then it is a crown that I will wear happily,” the townsand said. “Whatever is, whatever kind of attention it brought, it is doing the right things, which brings people to see the game and bring people in support, and that’s everything.”
There was an intense back and forth after winning the Townsend’s straight sets near the townsand, which is black, and ostapenko, which is from Latvia. After his match, Townsend said that Ostapenko bounted him for not apologizing for a net cord and then used derogatory language and questioned the Townsand’s intelligence and character. Asked if he felt that there were racial ventures in the comments, the townsend said he did not take it in this way, but admitted, “It is ‘not educated’ in our community and a stigma of everything, when it is the farthest thing from the truth.”
Gauf and Naomi Osaka Among those who came to publicly rescue the townsand. Osaka said that Townsend told Ostapenko saying that “One of the worst things can you say to a black tennis player in the majority white game.”
Even privately, Townsand said that other players instigated the subject and expressed their support. Online, he received thousands of social media followers.
Townsand said, “It is good to know that people see you and people are watching and more than anything,” I was hoping that it was a certain type, and it was just external verification, I handled things properly and I was the most proud and I was not looking at it. Proud.”
The Townsend is in the fourth round at the US Open, after a decade, the US Tennis Association dropped it out of the junior competition on concerns about its fitness. In 2012, the organization completed the performance of its tournament, while it focused on being in better size.
At the time of intervention, she has become prominent in the couple, winning Wimbledon last year and with a partner with Australian Open earlier this year Caterina SiniakovaAnd the pair is the top seed in the flushing meadows.
Townsend, who has not left in the last round of the fourth round in the single, will face the Grand Slam single champion twice Berbora Crassicova On Sunday.
If the Townsend reaches the quarter -finals this time, she wants a lesson to stand for herself.
“Sometimes, I feel like this in society, especially the people of color, we are expected to silence, or sometimes, there are times where we have to decide and when we speak, we have to be very strategic, and in this type of moments, it is important for me that I am not for my own, but for my culture, but for my culture,” it is important. “” It does not matter whether it does not matter what attention comes or whatever, I think it is about it being unexpectedly, be happy about who you are and never allow anyone to get you out of your character and who you are as a person. “
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
