[divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”0.5″ icon=”arrow-down” icon_color=”#666666″ icon_size=”15″ placement=”up”]
[Q] Taylor Townsend -116- (USA) vs [4] Simona Halep -04- (ROU)
Match recap from Arthur Ashe Stadium announcer Andy Taylor...
Today, southpaw Taylor Townsend played throw-back tennis. Serve-Volley. Repeat. Charge. Stay low. Cut off angles. It was an effective, agressive hard-court tactic against the reigning Wimbledon champion.
At the start of set-3, Simona was rattled. The 2-time Slam champion is typically a “marksman,” but she simply couldn’t get returns past Townsend’s approach. Rather than lob, Halep turned to firing returns right at Townsend, who quickly shortened the points. Taylor made it look easy.
Inconveniently, Simona also struggled to land first serves. Her placement on second attempts proved predictable, putting Townsend in control. After 2-hours and 4-minutes, Taylor Townsend served-and-volleyed her way into the 3rd-Round of the US Open for the first time; earning the biggest win of her career — with 105 trips to the net.
NEXT: [Q] Taylor Townsend -116- (USA) vs Sorana Cirstea -106- (ROU)
[divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”0.5″ icon=”fas fa-microphone” icon_color=”#666666″ icon_size=”23″ placement=”up”]
Round-2 Biography | [Q] Taylor Townsend -116- (USA)
5-years-ago, as an 18-year-old Wild Card, she made her US Open main-draw debut right here in Arthur Ashe Stadium versus World #1 Serena Williams. But we first experienced her powerful groundstrokes in 2011 – where at just 15-years-old, she made her Grand Slam main-draw debut in Doubles and reached the 3rd-Round. She now owns 17 ITF World Tennis Tour Singles titles, is a 2-time WTA-Tour Doubles Finalist and has been ranked as high as World #61. A qualifier at this year’s US Open, she’s won four consecutive matches to reach today’s 2nd-Round match. From Atlanta, Georgia – Please welcome Taylor Townsend.
▲ R2: def [4] Simona Halep -04- (ROU) 26 63 76(4)
▲ R1: def Kateryna Kozlova -76- (UKR) 36 63 62
▲ Q3: def Nina Stojanovic -96- (SRB) 36 76(5) 61
▲ Q2: def Veronica Cepede Royg -151- (PAR) 36 63 63
▲ Q1: def def Kostic (SRB) 63 61
Round-2 Biography | [4] Simona Halep -04- (ROU)
The reigning Wimbledon champion, last month she captured her second Grand Slam Singles title, earning a straight-sets victory over 7-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams in the Final. She won her first Major last year at Roland Garros, is now a 5-time Grand Slam Finalist, and has held the World #1 ranking for 64-weeks combined. The only Romanian woman ever to achieve the sport’s top-ranking, she’s also the first from Romania (male or female) to win Wimbledon, and has remained inside the WTA’s top-10 longer than any other active player. She owns 19 Singles titles, reached the Final in Madrid, and back in February – lifted her country to the Fed Cup Semifinals for the first time since 1973. A Semifinalist here in 2015, from Romania – please welcome the World #4, Simona Halep.
▲ R1: def Nicole Gibbs -135- (USA) 63 36 62
Head to Head
This was the 4th meeting between these two players. Simona Halep won all three of their previous matches, most recently in Round-2 of the Miami Open back in March.
