Fiery Taylor Townsend was knocked out of the women’s singles competition on Monday, September 1. Serving for the match in the second set, Townsend suffered an epic collapse, ending up losing a thrilling 3-set encounter against Barbora Krejcikova. Despite her loss in Round 4 of the US Open, Townsend was in a good mood in the press conference, courtesy of her 4-year-old son Adyn Aubrey Johnson.
Speaking at the press conference, Townsend revealed that AJ had watched the match for a full three hours and cheered her up by saying, “Good job, Mom.” When the American tennis star told him that she had lost her match, AJ replied with a message of assurance, telling her that it was okay.
“He was like, ‘Hey Mom, let’s work out together.’ I’m like, sir, I just played three hours. I don’t want to work out,” Townsend said after her loss in the US Open’s fourth round.
“He’s like, ‘Good job, Mom.’ I was like, ‘Thanks. AJ, I lost.’ He was like, ‘It’s okay.’ I was like, that’s the attitude. So I’m trying to embody that.”
On Monday, Krejcikova saved eight match points in a gladiatorial duel against Townsend. She clawed her way to a dramatic 1-6, 7-6(13), 6-3 victory, calling her escape “very brave and a little lucky” as she secured a place in the US Open quarterfinals.
The two-time Grand Slam champion mounted a thrilling showcase of resilience in New York, clinching the win in a three-hour battle to extend her US Open campaign.
Townsend came out firing, breaking Krejcikova twice early with sharp returning and clean ball-striking, while the Czech’s errors only eased her path. The American never wavered on serve and broke again to close out the set in under half an hour.
The second set turned into a rollercoaster as Townsend broke early and looked ready to pull away, but a double fault helped Krejcikova break back.
From there, they traded holds and tense moments, Townsend squandering the first of her match points on return before Krejcikova failed to serve out the set, forcing a nail-biting tiebreak.
The match reached peak drama as Townsend piled up match points, only to watch them go begging through errors or see Krejcikova fend them off with gutsy winners.
The tiebreak turned into pure chaos. Townsend earned a triple match point at 6-3, but Krejcikova clawed back. Townsend then thought she had it won on her fifth chance, only to see the Czech’s forehand clip the line.
Krejcikova squandered three set points of her own before she finally converted on her fourth opportunity with an overhead smash to take it 15-13.
The 25-minute duel, the longest tiebreak of the tournament so far, had the crowd buzzing, with other players pausing practice to watch the drama unfold on the screens.
Visibly fatigued in the third set, the pair traded breaks until the Czech seized the upper hand to serve for the match.
After missing her first match point, Krejcikova converted the second, leaving Townsend in tears as the Czech celebrated her hard-fought victory.
“This hurts, but it’s part of competition, it’s part of sports, but I’m right where I need to be,” Townsend said.
“It was literally like a point here and there that made the difference. It stings, but I’m proud of myself.”
– Ends