By Erik Gudris | Saturday, August 30, 2025Photo credit: Robert Prange/Getty Images
“Welcome to the show.”
That’s what Taylor Townsend said to an exuberant stadium crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night after she upset No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva to reach the US Open fourth round for the second time in her career.
The 29 year-old Townsend put on an all-court display to upset the rising 18-year-old Andreeva 7-5, 6-2 in their third round meeting.
Townsend is letting her tennis do the talking after making headlines when she stood her ground after her last singles match when she defeated No. 25 seed Jelena Ostapenko who made controversial comments to Townsend right after their match.
“All I want to say is welcome to the show,” Townsend said in her post-match interview when asked about her performance. “The job’s not done, I’m going to continue what I did tonight.”
Townsend, who acknowledged the controversy from her previous match, thanked the crowd for all their support during the last two days.
“It’s bigger than me, it’s about the message, it’s about the representation. You guys saw the real Taylor Townsend tonight,” she added.
Despite Andreeva coming in as the favorite, Townsend disrupted the young teenager by choosing to end most of the points at net when she could.
The first set proved a close contest between both players. At 5-all, Townsend found her advantage when Andreeva faced break points on her serve at 0-40. Andreeva made the mistake of bringing Townsend into the net where she was more than happy to close out the point. Soon, Townsend served out the set 7-5.
Andreeva managed to stay even with Townsend in the early stages of the second set. But when Townsend earned a crucial break to eventually pull ahead 4-2, Andreeva on her part seemed unable to come up with a game plan to counter her opponent’s surge.
Townsend would seize a pivotal insurance break for 5-2 thanks to a potent passing shot winner. Soon enough, Townsend, with a body serve that Andreeva couldn’t dig out of, closed out the popular win 7-5, 6-2.
The victory propelled Townsend into the fourth round of the US Open singles for the first time since 2019 when she upset then No. 4 seed Simona Halep to reach the same stage.
When asked how she’s managed to keep her focus in the last few days, Townsend said in her press conference that it hasn’t been hard at all.
“It hasn’t been hard at all. You know, I said to my team, I’m made for this type of stuff I really feel like, you know, it wasn’t hard, because I stood in my truth. So there was, I didn’t have to defend anything that I said. What I said, I said, and I meant. So, you know, for me, it was also good because I had doubles the next day. So I had to get right back on the page, because at the end of the day, I would never allow any drama or anything on the outside to deter me from what my goal is when I step into the lines on the court. When I step into those gates, nothing that’s happening on the outside matters.
So when it’s time to do the job, it’s time to do the job. And that’s what I think is a testament to being professional, being able to block out what’s on the outside and when you step in the lines you handle business.”
Next up for Townsend as she aims for the quarterfinals is unseeded two-time major singles champion Barbora Krejcikova.
