US OPEN

August 31, 2025

Taylor Townsend

Press Conference

B. KREJCIKOVA/T. Townsend

1-6, 7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Taylor, tough loss. What did you learn from not just the match but this singles run?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: I'm exactly where I need to be. I said it in D.C., you know, I was kind of inching there, but I'm exactly where I need to be.

That's it. I'm playing the tennis I need to play be inside the top 20, top 10 to win a Grand Slam. She's a two-time Grand Slam champion. I have beaten a Grand Slam champion this tournament.

So I have everything that I need, and, you know, it's just about now just keep getting the reps, keep putting myself in these types of positions. This hurts, but it's part of competition, it's part of sports, but I'm right where I need to be.

Q. Tough fight today. Curious how your mind works in terms of after this is over, are you immediately, like, replaying certain of the points in your head or thinking, like, going through, oh, I wish I had done this on that point? What's the last hour been like for you?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Yeah, I mean, I definitely did that. So my coach and I have a rule where you get to sulk for three minutes.

Q. Three minutes?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Yeah. I took ten (smiling).

But then, you know, first off, I got, you know, love and hugs from my team. You know, it just stings, because I literally gave everything, and I gave everything. She came up with some really, really great tennis in moments where she was down, and I thought I had it (smiling).

But, you know, it's a part of sports. For me, honestly, I was showering, I'm, like, damn, when is the next time I'm going to play a singles match? I'm the kind of person that motivated me and I'm ready to go back again.

So, you know, I'm not done here. I have doubles tomorrow. I'm going to do everything that I can to hoist the trophy here. With that, I know I can do it, me and my partner have done it before. This is just motivating me to keep doing the things that I know I can do to be a champion.

That's the cool thing about tennis. Doesn't matter what happened the day before. If you've got another match, you have to turn it around and get back on the saddle and keep going.

I'm going to use what happened today to just fuel me in to be able to even work on some of the things that I wish I did better in the singles match, I'm going to take that and try and implement those things in the doubles.

Q. All the love and hugs, how much of that was from your little boy? And just going further, would you describe that as being the toughest singles loss that you've experienced?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Yeah, I think so. I think so. Just because it was, like, you know, I was so close, and, you know, it was literally like a point here and there, quite literally, that made the difference.

So, you know, it stings, but, you know, I'm proud of myself. You know, I don't think I've ever put on a performance like this. And even when I had gone deep in some tournaments or played well, it always was, like, Okay, she's just on a run.

I think more than anything, I gained the respect of, you know, everyone in the tennis world and put a lot of my competitors on notice that the things they were kind of, like, ooh, we think that she's the type of player, but... I said it the other day, I really eliminated the "but" and gained quite a lot of respect in the tennis world from both men and women. That's great. I'm exactly where I need to be.

It feels good. I told A.J., Wow, you stayed there the whole time. It was over three hours and he sat there.

When I was talking to my coach when she was on the bathroom break, he was, like, If you need anything, I got you, just ask me. I'm like, Okay. (Laughter.)

So, you know, it's nice to be able to have that. You know, I was in the cooldown area, and 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.

He's like, Let's do some squats. I'm like, I'm good. That's the kid thing where they have no idea.

And I actually said it, because I wanted to know what he was going to say, I was like -- yeah, he's like, Good job, Mom. I was like, Thanks. A.J., I lost. He was like, It's okay.

I was, like, that's the attitude. So I'm trying to embody that.

Q. Can you take us through, after those eight match points at the end of the second set, Barbora went off court, you went into the corner, talked to your coach, can you tell us what was going on in your mind at that point and how you regrouped going into the third?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: First, when she went to the bathroom, I took the time on the changeover and I sat down for quite a while before getting up to go talk to my coach, just because I wanted to be able to center myself and hear my own thoughts before I went over and talked to him.

I think everyone sees that this is the beauty of tennis where it's just you out there, and so it didn't matter what he said, I had to take whatever he told me and bring it back and be able to, you know, implement it on the court.

So for me I wanted to hear myself first and hear what was going on. I let myself scream inside, like, Oh, my God. Damn it.

I gave myself a little bit of time, and then I immediately tried to get back on, okay, what do I need to do? It's nice being able to go over and talk to the coach, because maybe they see things that I don't see or vice versa. So that was really what I did.

More than anything, he was, like, Go take your time. You have the time. Go take your time.

That's why I went back over, I sat back down, put the towel on, and just tried to, you know, envision and think about what I wanted to do in the next set.

I've gone through this many times and enough times to know that if you're thinking about what happened before, whether it's the set before, the game before, the point before, it never helps.

So, you know, I really just tried to accept that I had opportunities. They went away. All right. What am I going to do next? That's kind of how I took it.

Q. Taylor, you won over a lot of fans -- you had a lot of fans, but people who weren't hard-core tennis fans or who were just casual sports fans, for the grace you handled yourself with after that second round. Did all that attention put some pressure on you? How do you feel about that?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: No, it didn't put any pressure on me, because I showed up as myself, and I handled it the way that I wanted to handle it.

So I was unapologetic about everything. I was proud of the way I handled everything. It didn't put any pressure on me, because I was just myself. That's as good as it gets.

I'm glad that I was able to win over, and for people to be able to find out who I am, and even more so play some of my best tennis and put on a great show and just give the fans what they deserve, which is some great tennis. I gave everything that I could.

That's all that matters. But the great thing is that the show is not over and I'm going to do everything I can to continue in the doubles.

Q. I remember years ago Barbora being World No. 1 in doubles and talking about the challenge of trying to build a singles ranking and a singles career when effectively she was required to play different tournaments because of her difference in ranking. She did it, and she ended up winning two Grand Slam titles. Do you think you will change your focus at all going forward? I know you've been hugely success in doubles. You love doubles. But will you move your focus at all?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: I don't think that it requires to move the focus, just because, you know, they both do different things for me and my game. Everyone is different. There are some people who physically can't really, you know, maintain that load for weeks in and weeks out.

For me, I'm actually better the more that I play, the better that I do and the better that I get.

So for me, I don't really think that it's a shift of focus, because each thing does a different thing for my game. It makes me a more kind of well-rounded player and it also allows me to be able to stay competitive and keep competing.

That's what it's really about. We play a lot of weeks, but there are some weeks you go far and there's some weeks that you're not. So for me, I know and understand this about myself, I'm the kind of player I need the matches and the reps, and just to continue. For me, doubles helps me with that.

No, I don't think I need to shift my focus. If anything, I can say it's helped me. There have been a lot more singles players playing doubles, so I don't really think that it's getting in the way of anything.

Q. In the late stages of the second set, in the tiebreak especially, then the first maybe two-thirds of the third set you were fairly quiet, you weren't making as much fist pumps or shouts or anything. How intentional that was, or was it something you almost sort of forgot to do? It seems you were engaged with that the last few games of the third set?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: No, it wasn't intentional. I was just kind of into my own zone, and, you know, sometimes that means that I'm internal and sometimes that means that I'm external.

You know, the energy of the crowd was so good, from start to finish of the match. You know, even in the tiebreaker, as it got down to the wire, I still was more so, like... Just tried to move on. Maybe I should have. Who knows?

I was just more so in my zone, and I was trying to, you know, basically feed off of that energy the tighter that it got. Because, you know, I felt like it was motivating me in a different way than it even did in the second set.

No, I didn't forget, but...

Q. You have spoken at times rather eloquently about destiny and your legacy. When things are done, you've had a real breakthrough here, what is the destiny for Taylor Townsend?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Well, I think everything happens for a reason, like I told you before. You know, this was part of the plan. We still got a lot of tennis to play, and I'm still here for the doubles.

You never know what type of catalyst or catapult that this match could be to propel me forward. I truly believe that this was, this whole tournament has been a game changer for me.

More than anything, I feel -- I don't feel, I know that I'm exactly where I need to be in order to fulfill every goal that I have as a tennis player, to be a top player, to win Grand Slams, multiple. I know that I can.

I know that I'm there. It's just little things here and there that the only thing that I need is the reps. I need to keep putting myself in these types of positions, and eventually it will turn in my favor.

You know, I don't think this is an accident. If I pull back, I don't look at this as adversity or a bad thing. It's stings and it hurts because I gave everything. When you give everything, you want a different result, right? Ultimately, I know that this is going to take me to another level.

Q. Taylor, for those of us who watched, it was riveting, it was tense. What was it like in the moment to participate in all of those points that were a fraction of an inch from maybe you being victorious on those match points?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Yeah, I was holding my breath, just like you guys. But yeah, it was intense, for sure. But, I mean, it was high-level tennis. I mean, it was high-level tennis.

I can't get mad. Like you said, fractions of a centimeter of an inch. The backhand down the line on the match point where it barely clipped the line, what do you do in those moments?

Yeah, I mean, I felt the pressure, but I also was really proud of the way that I handled that, because I didn't allow it to affect, like, what I wanted to do. You know, she just played more free and better in those moments, and that happens, right?

Swing for the fence, I'm down match point, I'm going to go for it. Sometimes it goes in. And today, they went in, they hit the lines. She hit some amazing shots, and I can do nothing but clap it up and move on to the next. And that's what I tried to do in those moments.

Too good, move on to the next point. I think my mannerism showed that as well. I mean, it was high pressure, but I also tried not to focus on that too, because if you do, you can psych yourself out almost in a way. So I just wanted to stay free and play my game, and I did the best that I could today.