	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

U.S. OPEN

August 29, 2016

Taylor Townsend

New York, NY, USA

C. WOZNIACKI/T. Townsend

4-6, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You take her three sets, winning the first. How do you look at the result? Even though it's a loss, are you to the point you're satisfied or do you feel you should have had this?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: No, this is one of the wins that -- or losses that really stings. I had so many chances.

Overall, I just have to take the positive from it. This is definitely not satisfying for me. I want to continue, go back out, I mean, if I could I'd go back out on the practice court now. That's just how I feel. Just to get better because I know that I'm so close.

So that was just -- that match proved a lot to me today, but I'm not satisfied at all.

Q. It was a pretty special match in the sense it was the first match on Grandstand. Did that give you a special feeling? Have you ever been, especially at an opening of an event, of a venue -- was that a special moment for you?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Definitely. I didn't have a chance to hit on the court at all before I went to play the match, so obviously -- you know, I played quallies. I was on other courts.

But the court is amazing. It's beautiful. I didn't realize how big it was until people started to come in and started to get a little bit more packed. You know, people started cheering. I was in awe. You know, it's such a beautiful stadium. And to see the improvements they have made in the course of a year, it's amazing.

I was really happy to be able to, you know, to break the court in, quote/unquote (Smiling.) It was really great, and especially putting in -- being an American, it was awesome.

Q. How hot was it out there? Looked like it was really blazing.
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: It was -- it was decently hot. You know, I didn't use the ice towel for the first two sets. I'm from Atlanta, so the heat is not really a big deal. It wasn't that hot to begin with.

But as the match progressed it got a little bit hotter, a little bit more breezy, so it was -- and obviously, you know, it's 10 degrees hotter on the court than it is like wherever you are.

It was getting pretty toasty. The conditions, it wasn't affecting me that badly because I'm used to it. I train in the heat. The Atlanta heat is different than here. I was kind of used to it.

Q. Did you take a break between sets with heat protocol?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: No. I just went to the restroom after the first. The heat rule was in, but I didn't take the break.

Q. When you look at this match, when you look at it as a whole, are there specific points that come out? Like if that point went one way or the other, or was there something she was consistently doing and you are weren't doing that was impacting the outcome?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Yeah. I mean, obviously she stayed steady, which is her game. There are a lot of different points that I feel like if I could have done something different or if I made a different decision that it could have maybe changed the outcome.

Instead of getting broken, could have got broken. Instead of being down 30, could have been up 15-30 or 15-all. But that's tennis. There are so many points during the match where it can go either way. You have to make a decision in a split second. Sometimes you make the right decision; sometimes you make the wrong decision.

I have to learn from it. I can pick apart the match and tell you every little thing, but overall I'm just going to assess it, watch the film, learn from it, and keep moving.

Q. Is it just more the decision-making maybe you're disappointed in or execution-wise? What do you think?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Just the decision making, I think. Because if I would have made a different decision then I probably would have executed the shot. I think I was doing a good job of executing my shots when I had it.

But, you know, there are points in the match where I did something and I was like, Oh, I should have done that. You know, I can't change it. Like I said, I'm just going to look at it and try to build on it.

Q. Would you say that maybe those couple of dropshots you tried during the match would fall into that decision making category?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Definitely.

Q. And what kind of vulnerability did you sense in her? First set she had a point for 4-1 and you turned around and won the set. What sense did you get from her?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: I wasn't really concerned about what she was doing. I was more into myself. I realized that I could win the match (Smiling.)

Ultimately, it just comes down to that belief in myself and the things I have been working on and the training I have been doing.

You know, winning three quallies matches obviously it's great, but to win a main-draw match against someone like that, she's been No. 1 in the world so she knows what it takes to win matches.

But, you know, I could taste it. It was so close. I just think that -- I don't know. Like I said, I just want to continue to build on it, really. It really was a great match. I can't beat myself too much, but just going to keep building and keep working.

Q. What do you think has been the key to your ranking turnaround? You are up several hundred spots from where you were earlier this year.
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: I think great coaching, great people around me, just having peace of mind. You know, knowing that my team and everyone that I surrounded myself with has my best interests and I'm just moving forward.

You know, we're not complicating anything, not putting too much into it besides just going out and playing tennis.

Just getting out on the court and just playing a lot of matches, you know, and having to go through that grind of, you know, playing 25s and losing quallies. You know, all of that stuff.

I just think that, you know, just great coaching. I have worked really hard on and off the court. I just think that when you give yourself opportunities and you keep playing, you get experience more than anything.

I think that you begin to grow as a player and get results.

Q. Do you feel like you're moving up for good now, or do you still like you have to keep battling to work your way, steadily keeping your ranking up and moving up?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: It's always going to be a battle. It's like you can see -- I mean, it's always going to be a battle because you know that when you gain points the following year you have to defend or do better or you will lose those points.

So it's always going to be about to continue to grow and push yourself and just get better and better and better.

I mean, I can't worry about what I have done or I don't know what's ahead of me. I just have to continue to focus on what I'm doing right now and the results will come.

Q. It was a great match to watch. What do you think Billie Jean would say about it?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: I have no clue.

Q. Are you still in touch with her much?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Not really, but, you know, she sends me messages. We chat back and forth sometimes every blue moon. But, you know, you talk to Alana (ph) every once in a while, and I was able to sub for a TeamTennis match. I got to see her there but didn't get to chat much. Opening night is always super busy for them.

Q. Do you think you would have trouble seeing the ball if your opponent was wearing the same color as yours?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: No, I don't think so.

Q. It doesn't kind of fade --
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: No, not really. I mean, I feel like at this point, you know, we should all know how to watch the ball (Smiling.) If we don't, then we've got a problem.

So I don't think that it's really a problem. During the Open, they always -- all the companies always go with bright colors and super fun outfits. That's not really something that you can worry about or control.

Q. Who's the coach you're working with now or coaches?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Donald Young, Sr., and this week I have been working with his wife, Illona Young. They have all been helping me, those two together.

Q. Where are you doing your training now?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: What train?

Q. When you practice when you're home.
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: I hit with a majority of people. The tennis community in Atlanta is pretty broad. There are a lot of colleges and a lot of players that come out of the South, you know, that visit there and that live there.

So I hit with a lot of college guys, college girls. It just depends on who's in town, because, you know, obviously our schedules sometimes don't match up together.

But there are a lot of people. I can't really sit here and name them all because it is a lot.

Q. You seem to be in pretty good frame of mind after a loss. You also seem to be growing and maturing. I wanted to ask you just a general question about the sport. What is it that you really love about the sport of tennis?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Well, not this (Smiling.) Well, no, actually, I do. Moments like these before, you know -- obviously, you know, I was crying and upset, but at the end of the day, you know, I have good people around me, like I said.

And Mrs. Young kind of helped me a lot just understanding the growth I have made over the last year. It's been monumental. Like I said, I can't really beat myself up too much. Moments like these where I have played and I left my heart out there and I know I could have done things better, it just drives me more to want to get out on the court and fix it, just try and do better.

Luckily, you know, I was able to get an opportunity to get a wildcard for doubles, so I have another chance to get out on court and play competitively. I know I have an opportunity to not really fix what I did, but to work on it and just be able to get back out on the court and compete.

So, you know, just the opportunity to be able to redeem yourself or, you know, just grow. Because, you know, you know in your head what you did. Now it's about executing and just doing it.

Q. Good match.
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Thank you.

Q. Do you feel when you get on the court there was bigger pressure on you as a sport we are still trying to get in with more African-Americans?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: I wouldn't really call it pressure. You know, I think that it's an opportunity to use a platform that we have been getting in with talent and blessings and gifts. Just to be able to inspire other kids, you know, I don't think that it's a pressure situation.

Because, you know, there are kids that no matter how you do, they'd just be happy to be able to see you and watch you play. They are just even more excited when you do well.

Just to be able to inspire people like that, it's not really pressure. I think it's more of a blessing and a gift, you know, just to be able to do that. To be able to be on this platform, it's amazing. I can't complain at all.

Q. There was a 29-shot rally in the third set that you were able to win. What does a rally like that do for you in terms of your confidence with all the hard work and everything that's been going on? That was impressive stuff, the construction and putting it away. In that moment, is that something you look back on and think, that's one of those breakthroughs?
TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Yeah, like first of all, catch a breath. That was the main thing (Smiling).

No, I think that it was really good. I didn't know how long the rally was, but I knew it was long. It is a confidence builder, because I know that for someone like her who she just thrives on rallies like that and she can hang in points all the time - that's her game - for me to be able to win a long point that was probably the longest point of the match is good, and it proves something to me that I can hang in rallies like that.

And then to go even farther and win the game, you know, you can win a point like that, but if you lose the game it kind of defeats the purpose of it.

But then I was able to bounce back, hold my serve, and stay in it, you know, neck to neck, that really is great.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297