Taylor Townsend, doubles No. 1, proves herself a tennis player in full

NEW YORK—Sometimes, the best role models are hiding in plain sight.

Take Taylor Townsend. She doesn’t have the gaudy record of Iga Swiatek. Unlike her friend Frances Tiafoe, who hasn’t won a major singles title either, she isn’t on the Forbes list of Top 10 earners in tennis. She doesn’t have the imposing physique of Aryna Sabalenka, never had the aura of an anointed one, like Coco Gauff.

But Townsend, a 29-year old mother and No. 1 in the world in doubles, has a rare combination of qualities that may make anyone wish she were their child, or even their parent. She is diligent, tough, resilient, frank, empathetic and fair. All of that has been in evidence at this US Open, and it has endeared Townsend to those who notice such things.

At the end of this tournament I hope that people do a deep dive into her and get to know her [for] more than what was said in that previous match. Coco Gauff on Taylor Townsend

Townsend lost in the fourth round here in Louis Armstrong Stadium on Sunday afternoon to two-time Grand Slam champion, Barbora Krejcikova. It was a whale of struggle in which Townsend had eight match points—seven of them in a sensational second set tiebreaker that Kerjcikova salvaged with some spectacular shotmaking at the most critical moments.

The final score in the three-hour and six minute battle was 1-6, 7-6 (13), 6-3. Beaten but unbowed, Townsend said in her post-match press conference:

“You know, it just stings, because I literally gave everything, and I gave everything. She came up with some really, really great tennis in moments where she was down, and I thought I had it.”

Townsend paused, smiling, then added:

“But, you know, it's a part of sports. For me, honestly, [when] I was showering, I'm, like, ‘damn, when is the next time I'm going to play a singles match’?”

Townsend also pointed out that her work at Flushing Meadows is not quite done. She and partner Katerina Siniakova are the top seed in women’s doubles.

“I'm going to do everything that I can to hoist the trophy here. . . This [loss] is just motivating me to keep doing the things that I know I can do to be a champion.”

Many fans will remember the controversy that erupted a few days ago, after Towsend eliminated Jelena Ostapenko in their second-round singles match. At the conclusion, Ostapenko lit into Townsend for failing to make a gesture of apology after benefitting from a let cord (a by-rote acknowledgment is common, but not obligatory). It was just one of her petty—and groundless—grievances. Ostapenko then suggested that the winner has “no education.”

It was a shocking indiscretion, given that Townsend is a poised and well-spoken Black woman (as well as the daughter of two educators), popular in the locker room and beyond. Townsend in response chose to take the high road, refusing to strike a match to the tinder.

“I mean, it's sports,” she said, in the verbal equivalent of a shrug. “I feel like people have gotten a little bit soft. I'm not going to lie. It's sports. People talk trash. You know, people say things. Whatever, people get mad. Everyone has a right to feel how they feel.”

Gauff’s reaction when she was asked about the incident was telling, and fairly representative. She said, referring to the charge of poor sportsmanship, “Knowing Taylor personally, she's the opposite of that. She's one of the nicest people that I've ever met. At the end of this tournament I hope that people do a deep dive into her and get to know her [for] more than what was said in that previous match.”

Okay, then, here’s something for the divers: After Tatjana Maria, the mother of two, became the oldest winner of a WTA 500 at Queens Club in London this summer, Townsend—at the tournament in Washington, D.C.—recalled seeing Maria years ago at a minor event accompanied by her husband and first child, Charlotte.

“Charlotte was maybe six months old, and her hair was black, and she had these big blue eyes. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen in my life,’” Townsend said. “Tatjana’s husband was on the side of the court, coaching, and I was, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this lady is a superhero.’ And now she has another daughter. At the time, I was like, ‘I can’t, I could never, I can't imagine doing that. Oh, my God.’ Now look at me. Yeah, she is one of the OG moms on tour.”

Townsend is also a compulsive truth-teller, with a mischievous streak. Just ask her pal Tiafoe, who showed up to play in D.C. wearing a yellow jersey and maroon shorts, an homage to his beloved Washington Commanders. Townsend told him that she was going to go to his match and scream the McDonald’s jingle because of the colors.

“Ronald McDonald, my man!” Townsend quipped, adding, “The thing is I'm very honest, so it's—I tell him to his face. I tell Jill (Smoller, Tiafoe’s agent). I'm very honest. It’s not my favorite outfit.”

I’m a little upset with her,” Tiafoe groused later, only half-serious, “Taylor was clowning my outfit, calling me Ronald McDonald. I wasn’t messing with that at all.”

Townsend is that particular kind of “nice” that often comes along with having had to deal with—and overcome—hardships. Stuff that can make a person tough, but also empathetic. At 5-foot-7, she was blessed with soft hands, and the capacity to hit wicked spin like some other southpaws, including John McEnroe.

As a 15-year-old in 2012, she was ranked the No. 1 junior in the world. But in a potentially humiliating episode that year, she was asked by USTA officials to sit out the 2012 junior US Open because of “fitness concerns” that seemed to have more to do with her body type than actual fitness.

Townsend refused to withdraw, paid her own expenses in New York (although the USTA ultimately reimbursed her), and ended up winning the doubles title with little known Gabrielle Andrews anyway.

A Chicago native, Townsend has had difficulty getting lasting traction in singles. Her career high is No. 46 (achieved last August), and she also reached the US Open fourth round in 2019. But she came into this event ranked No. 139. This event gives her a boost, and a fresh start on a singles comeback.

There were no laments after her loss on Sunday, not even in the immediate aftermath when the sting is most acute. Did she learn anything from this loss, or her trip to the fourth round?

“I'm exactly where I need to be,” she said. “I'm playing the tennis I need to play to be inside the Top 20, Top 10 to win a Grand Slam.” Townsend noted that she eliminated Grand Slam champion Ostapenko, as well as No. 5 seed and highly touted contender Mirra Andreeva.

“This hurts, but it's part of competition, it's part of sports, but I'm right where I need to be.”

Townsend’s gifts have been most prominent in doubles, where a player of modest height and reach has less real estate to cover. Since returning from maternity leave in April 2022, Townsend has been to the semifinals or better at seven of the 12 majors she entered, winning two—both with Siniakova.

Townsend could rest on those laurels, or focus even more intensely on doubles, but she isn’t built to settle for a glass half full. She is a tennis player in full, a role model to boot.