The 30-year-old once denied USTA funding returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium to complete her career doubles grand slam alongside Kateřina Siniaková
The cheers swelled from Arthur Ashe Stadium as Taylor Townsend approached the microphone on court. “Y’all know this is my moment,” she started, “and I’m about to take it.”
A day after being denied an American rooting interest in the women’s singles final and rushing for the exits in response, the Ashe crowd had reason to stick around and drink in the moment: the Chicago native and her partner, Kateřina Siniaková of the Czech Republic, had just defeated the all-American team of Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 in Friday’s women’s doubles final. With the victory, Siniaková became a two-time career doubles slam champion while Townsend joined the club for the first time.
The moment was long in coming for the 30-year-old Townsend, a top-ranked junior player who was body-shamed by her home federation and denied coaching and funding as consequence. Last year, Townsend and Siniaková blitzed through the draw before getting blitzed back by Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, pushing her US Open victory celebration back a year. Though clearly disappointed, Townsend maintained a sunny disposition and vowed that she and Siniaková would finish the job. That they did in a year when the US Open showcased the depth of Black American players in tennis wasn’t lost on Townsend – who now has an adult US Open trophy to go with the one she won as a 16-year-old.
