The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
American qualifier Townsend upsets former No. 1 Halep
The pure, raw emotion from Taylor Townsend came through after she delivered one last crisp forehand volley to complete her U.S. Open upset of two-time major champion Simona Halep, then clenched her fists, raised her arms and yelled, “Yes! Yes!” before patting her heart.
And there it was again, moments later, when Townsend’s voice cracked and tears began to flow as she told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, “I mean, this means a lot. It’s been a long journey. Just haven’t been able to get over the hump.”
Make way for another young American woman making Grand Slam waves. Townsend, a 23-yearold qualifier ranked 116th, pulled off the biggest victory over her up-and-down career with an entertaining, net-rushing, serve-and-volleying brand of lefty tennis Thursday, surprising former No. 1 Halep 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the second round at Flushing Meadows.
“I just told myself this is an opportunity,” Townsend said. “It’s a chance, and you have nothing to lose.”
She was able to put aside the early deficit of a set. And get over that she wasted a pair of match points, one via double-fault, while serving for the win at 5-4 in the third. And steady herself nearly 15 minutes later, when Halep, who won Wimbledon in July and was seeded No. 4 at the U.S. Open, was a single point from winning this thing herself at 6-5.
In sum, Townsend never let up and never gave up — on Thursday, even though she knew full well she lost all six sets the two women had contested previously.
“When I’ve played her before, I was just trying to make balls (in). I think I played not to lose,” Townsend said. “And today I played to win.”
How did she do it?
By moving forward at every opportunity, something so rarely seen these days on tour. She won the point on 64 of her 106 trips to the net; Halep went 6 for 10. And Townsend serve-and-volleyed 61 times, Halep once.
It was an attention-grabbing result on a busy day at the year’s last major tournament, with all but nine of Wednesday’s scheduled singles matches carried over because of rain. The weather was just right Thursday, and so result after result poured in, including Andrea Petkovic’s 6-4, 6-4 elimination of two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and, among the men, unseeded American Denis Kudla’s 7-5, 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 win over No. 27 Dusan Lajovic, and unseeded Briton Daniel Evans’ 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4 defeat of No. 25 Lucas Pouille.
Three-time U.S. Open champion Rafael Nadal reached the third round when his opponent, Thanasi Kokkinakis, withdrew with an injured right shoulder.
Later Thursday, 15-year-old Coco Gauff, who grabbed a ton of attention by reaching Wimbledon’s fourth round, was supposed to play for a shot to face defending champion Naomi Osaka next.
Osaka moved on earlier Thursday with a couple of famous fans in her courtside guest seats: Colin Kaepernick and Kobe Bryant.
The No. 1 seed beat Magda Linette 6-2, 6-4.