Editor’s note: This article is part of the Winning Style series, a collection of articles that explore the methods elite tennis players adopt in order to remain at the pinnacle of the sport. NEW YORK — Although they had stood next to each other on court as teammates since the spring of 2024, it wasn’t until fall 2025, at a practice in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the WTA Tour Finals, that Taylor Townsend saw her doubles partner with clear eyes.By then, Townsend, from Chicago, and Kateřina Siniaková, from Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic, had already won two Grand Slam doubles titles and made the final of another, the 2025 U.S. Open.Competitive focus and adrenaline can act as blinders on a tennis court. In a less pressurized situation, Townsend had the time to take in the athleticism bordering on art that is Siniaková’s game: the pinpoint precision of her footwork, the crispness with which she attacks the ball and the fluidity with which she recovers.“The way she did this drill?” Townsend told reporters Wednesday, pausing for dramatic effect.“Now I see why she’s the best in the world.”Why does no one dominate the US Open? Tifo SportsSingles players have always gobbled up most of the space in tennis’ attention economy, meaning Siniaková and Townsend have celebrated most of their long list of achievements in relative quiet.Friday at the U.S. Open, they both have the chance to surpass milestones that already speak loudly of their rare talent. Should Townsend and Siniaková, both 30 years old, beat the American wild-card pair of Robin Montgomery and Ashlyn Krueger, Townsend will have won all four major doubles titles. She will complete the career Grand Slam, something only 18 women have achieved since 1968, the start of tennis’ Open Era.Siniaková, the top-ranked doubles player in the world, will reach even rarer air.She will be the ninth woman to complete the career Grand Slam twice — and she will be the first player to do so with different partners. Her first career Grand Slam came with Czech compatriot Barbora Krejčíková, the two-time singles Grand Slam champion who won Wimbledon and the French Open.Winning this U.S. Open with Townsend would give Siniaková a 12th Grand Slam doubles title and her 39th women’s doubles title overall. Heading into Friday’s final, their record as a pair is 80-16.“Of course it would mean a lot, and I definitely know what the home Slam means for Taylor. I think we left it all out last year and just even the pressure, everything, we already had it last year,” Siniaková told reporters Wednesday.