Taylor Townsend’s US Open, across all formats, has officially come to an end, having contested the ladies’ doubles final just last night.
This comes days after she was dumped out of the singles draw by Barbora Krejčíková, in a historic run that matched her greatest-ever singles performance at a Grand Slam.
Ironically, the most prevalent storyline surrounding the American during the last two weeks is actually not even related to her tennis, but what happened immediately after her second-round win over Jelena Ostapenko.
The controversy surrounding Ostapenko’s comments about Townsend dominated the headlines, and yet it did not deter the latter from continuing to storm through both the singles and doubles draws.
Alas, she fell at the final hurdle alongside Kateřina Siniaková, and has since cited an issue with the Arthur Ashe court which she did not appreciate.
Taylor Townsend’s US Open final problem
In her post-final press conference, where she entered sipping the famous US Open Honey Deuce, Townsend unsurprisingly was supremely gracious.
However, she was not afraid to outline her ‘problem’ with the courts, as Catherine Whitaker relayed on The Tennis Podcast: “The women’s doubles title was won by the Canadian Kiwi duo, Gabby Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe. 6-4, 4 over Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend. It’s the second US Open double title they have won as a pair and an incredible journey they have been on.
“Obviously, Gabby Dabrowski in particular, having, you know, this time a year ago, she was undergoing treatment for cancer. Like, this is the most wonderful uplifting comeback story, and they are, in the words of Matt Roberts, quite a pair.”
Matt Roberts added: “I’ve always thought she was good. Dabrowski is a brilliant doubles player. I think these two complement each other really, really well. Routliffe’s got a bit of a funny serve but quite a big serve.
“Dabrowski’s got great reactions at the net, Routliffe really solid, at the net. Like, they’re just the really, really strong pair, and, you know, any doubles team that beats Siniakova and partner, let alone Siniakova and Townsend, you’ve got to be a very strong pair to beat them.
“I think I think this tournament was a lot for Taylor Townsend.”
Whitaker then relayed Townsend’s grievance, concluding: “Townsend was incredibly generous about Dabrowski and Routliffe, but she also said the shadow was a problem for her today.
“She said the shadow made it hard to pick up the ball coming from certain directions, and it was very quick adjustments that we had to make when we changed sides.
“Say it, Taylor.”
Taylor Townsend has enjoyed a historic US Open campaign
Regardless of her loss in the final, which will have been tough for her to take, this has still been a remarkable two weeks for Townsend.
After all, her profile has risen exponentially, boosted by her superb brand of tennis, her run in the singles draw, and the way in which she handled herself in the face of such controversy.
Reaching the fourth round of the singles matched her best-ever performance, which also came at the US Open back in 2019.
And whilst she could not avenge her loss in the US Open ladies’ doubles final from 2022, it still represented a great step in the right direction for the top-ranked doubles player in the world.
Hopefully Townsend can use this tournament as a springboard for plenty of future successes.
