{"id":194279,"date":"2025-09-02T14:08:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T14:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/194279\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T14:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T14:08:12","slug":"taylor-townsends-incredible-u-s-open-ride-ends-in-three-set-epic-against-barbora-krejcikova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/194279\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Townsend\u2019s incredible U.S. Open ride ends in three-set epic against Barbora Krejcikova"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of the U.S. Open 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM \u2014 For most of the past week, Taylor Townsend<\/a> had owned the U.S. Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A point away from stretching that into the business end of her home Slam eight times, Townsend got so close in her attempt to knock off yet another Grand Slam champion and extend her rise into sporting and cultural stardom one more time. She fell in the cruelest way to Barbora Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1, who kept her fingers on the edge of the cliff over and over and over to beat Townsend 1-6, 7-6(13) 6-4, cutting short her wild ride into the second week in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just stings, because I literally gave everything,\u201d Townsend said about an hour after the match that she was a point away from winning eight times.<\/p>\n

She said she and her coach have a ritual after losses. She gets three minutes to sulk. She got plenty of hugs after this one and then allowed herself 10 minutes of sadness. Then her toddler son, who watched the three-hour marathon that included a roughly 25-minute tiebreak, asked her if he could work out with her in the cool-down area, and told her it was OK that she lost. In the shower, the world\u2019s top-ranked doubles player was already thinking about when she would play her next singles match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I had it,\u201d she said, \u201cbut, you know, it\u2019s a part of sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Townsend, this week was about more than sports.<\/p>\n

Four days ago, Townsend closed out an emotional win over Jelena Ostapenko that ended with Ostapenko berating Townsend at the net<\/a>. The Latvian told Townsend, who is Black, that she had \u201cno class\u201d and \u201cno education,\u201d because she didn\u2019t apologize for a net cord that helped deliver her a point late in the first set. Ostapenko doubled down on her perception of Townsend\u2019s ill-etiquette straight after the match, before apologizing<\/a> three days later with a note that did not name or acknowledge the person she had slighted.<\/p>\n

The moment thrust Townsend, the world No. 1 in doubles but rarely a factor in singles, into the national spotlight. And for more than three hours Sunday afternoon on Louis Armstrong Stadium, it seemed like she was going to be there for a while longer.<\/p>\n

On Friday night on Arthur Ashe Stadium, she had blown past Mirra Andreeva, the 18-year-old world No. 5, in front of a raucous, late-night crowd that got to the young Russian and spurred Townsend to some of the best tennis of her life.<\/p>\n

After a rowdy doubles win with her partner Kate\u0159ina Siniakov\u00e1 on Saturday, another version of that arrived in Louis Armstrong for the battle against Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1, with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.<\/p>\n

Townsend had said Saturday evening that she believes in destiny. Her up-and-down tennis journey, from world No. 1 as a junior, to being denied a U.S. Open wild card by the USTA over her fitness, through injuries and then fighting her way up the doubles rankings and into a career in singles too, had led to this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe that the timing is divine,\u201d she said. \u201cEverything is happening exactly the way that it\u2019s supposed to. I truly believe there are never any accidents.\u201d<\/p>\n

A standing-room-only crowd of more than 14,000 packed the place, ready to throw a party for the latest American woman to surge to the fore in a year when there have been plenty of them.<\/p>\n

She has had plenty of assignments on big stages and highlight-reel successes. She is doubles world No. 1 and a two-time Grand Slam champion, lifting the 2024 Wimbledon and 2025 Australian Open titles with Siniakov\u00e1. Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1, who is a two-time major champion in singles, partnered Siniakov\u00e1 to win seven Grand Slam doubles titles between 2013 and 2017. Both players have been at the very top of the sport, without necessarily getting the kudos and credit that comes with success outside of the singles mainstream.<\/p>\n

And once Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 stopped spraying errors as she had done for most of the opening set, the combination of two champions of doubles dueling in singles made for a captivating matchup of spins. angled volleys and topspin lobs, speckled with bursts of power strokes to the lines.<\/p>\n

Early in the second set, it looked like Townsend would cruise into the final eight. She\u2019d survived a nervy service game, then broke Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 with a museum-quality backhand topspin lob for a 3-1 lead. The crowd exploded. This was happening.<\/p>\n

But then Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 steadied, and Townsend wobbled. Sometimes the hardest thing is knowing how close you are to something you want so badly. Townsend\u2019s legs started to go, her serves lost velocity and Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 drew even.<\/p>\n

With the lead gone and the second set knotted midway through, Townsend loosened once more and stopped Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1\u2019s surge. A hard low slice got her to match point, but Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 snuffed out the chance with a winner and and grabbed back the momentum, breaking Townsend for a chance to serve out the second set.<\/p>\n

That woke up Townsend, and after she broke right back, Armstrong was singing \u201clet\u2019s go Taylor\u201d at the top of its lungs. Onto the tiebreak they went.<\/p>\n

Townsend wobbled first with a bad approach shot. Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 wobbled next with two backhands into the net and Townsend surged to three more match points. Two were on Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1\u2019s serve, and the Czech saved both. The one she craved, on her own serve, was met with a vicious return onto Townsend\u2019s toes.<\/p>\n

Then came a fifth match point. Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 nailed the outside of the sideline with a blazing forehand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just very, I mean, brave as well, but also lucky,\u201d Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 said. \u201cIf one point didn\u2019t go my way, I would have been searching for flights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Barbora Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 handled a febrile crowd en route to knocking the home favorite out of the U.S. Open. (Matthew Stockman \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Then the ushers let the kids with the jumbo yellow tennis balls<\/a> down courtside, the signal that the end is close. Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 was having none of it, pushing onto the front foot and grabbing a set point chance that she put into the net. She got another on her own serve, but spun an inside-in forehand wide. Then she got another, and could not return a 63-mph serve.<\/p>\n

A sixth match point for Townsend. She bounced on her toes behind the baseline. More ice-water from Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1, knifing a backhand volley down the line. A seventh, again on Townsend\u2019s serve. Another first serve didn\u2019t find its mark, and this time Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 flayed the second-serve return onto the sideline. Townsend could only stare at it. After changing ends at 12-12, Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 chased down a short Townsend slice. Townsend, with all her years of experience on a doubles court, knew Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 was unlikely to go down the line on a pressure point. She stepped to the center of the service boxes and blocked a volley into the open court for an eighth match point, which Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 saved with a backhand that kissed the edge of the baseline.<\/p>\n

Then she charged in after big return, garnered a short lob, and blasted the overhead into the crowd. The kids with big tennis balls headed back up the stairs.<\/p>\n

There was another set to play. Townsend did well to keep it close in a situation where so many others would have crumbled. But Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 kept her foot pressed to the gas pedal, showing off the smooth power and all-court prowess that made her a Wimbledon singles champion a year ago, and French Open singles champion three years before that.<\/p>\n

Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 got the service break in the sixth game. Townsend grabbed it back, in the next, setting everyone up for another roller coaster. But a point from 4-4, Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 rocketed a backhand return off a first serve down the line, took the next two points, and nearly three hours after this ride started, she had her chance to serve it out.<\/p>\n

Then it was match point for Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1, and Townsend\u2019s turn to hit out and stay alive. She did once. But on Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 second chance, the Czech served and volleyed onto the back line. Townsend sent up a lob, and this time there were no miracle shots. She walked off, dabbing her eyes with a towel. She has a doubles match Monday. Life as a world No. 1 doesn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was part of the plan,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve still got a lot of tennis to play, and I\u2019m still here for the doubles.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know what type of catalyst or catapult this match could be to propel me forward. I truly believe that this was \u2026 This whole tournament has been a game-changer for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Matthew Stockman \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of the U.S. Open 2025. LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM \u2014 For most of the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":194280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[62,1464,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-194279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115135099937575476","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}