American tennis doubles star Taylor Townsend found herself facing one of her idols in the quarterfinals of the US Open women’s doubles competition on Tuesday afternoon.
It was none other than legendary player Venus Williams, who at 45 was making an unexpectedly strong run in this year’s tournament.
However, the day belonged to Townsend and her partner Katerina Siniakova, who showed why they are currently the world’s No. 1 doubles team as they defeated Williams and Leylah Fernandez in straight sets.
Townsend and Siniakova controlled the action from start to finish in winning 6-1, 6-2 in a match that was held at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing Meadow, New York. In the post-match interview Townsend talked about how as a youngster, she was inspired by watching Venus and his sister Serena Williams win championships. Williams was greeted with a thunderous standing ovation from the New York crowd as she left the court. Townsend herself has become a fan favorite during the tournament with her play during the singles and doubles competitions.
With the victory, Townsend and Siniakova advanced to Wednesday afternoon’s semifinals, where they will face the No. 4 seeded team of Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova.
All four of the top seeds in the women’s doubles have advanced to the semifinals. The other semifinal match will pit the No. 2 seeded team of Jasmine Paolina and Sara Errani against No. 3 seed Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski.