Taylor Townsend put aside the controversy over Jelena Ostapenko’s comments on her in order to get the fifth seed Mirra Andreeva to beat and arrive at the U.S. Open last 16 years.
The 29-year-old American said she beat the Russian 7-5 6-2 “bigger than me” when she entered the fourth round in Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2019.
After Ostapenko told her that after Wednesday’s second round, Ostapenko told her that other players, including Naomi Osaka, came to Townsend’s defense this week.
Osaka said the comments were “one of your worst words to black tennis players”.
Ostapenko argued with Townsend after losing 7-5 6-1 and claimed that the U.S. doubles experts did not apologize after a network landed.
The 2017 French Open champion denied any racism in her speech, Townsend said she believes Latvia’s comments are not racial.
Townsend told the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, one of the biggest wins in his singles career against Andreeva on Friday, “It feels good.
“What I want to say is welcome to the show. I feel great. I am proud to keep the main thing.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported me for the past 48 hours.
“It’s bigger than me. It’s about information, it’s about representation, it’s about being bold and being able to show up like myself, I did it tonight.
“You guys saw the real Taylor Townsend tonight.”
Townsend will play the seedless Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round on Sunday, who spent just 76 minutes under the 18-year-old Andreeva and made some fearless shots.
She went through a tense first set and then escaped the second inning, winning a total of 23 winners.
