Townsend finally finds her moment in the sun

American 29-year-old soaks in the adulation after toppling fifth seed Russian teen sensation Andreeva

- Rutvick Mehta

In 2012, as an American 16-year-old at the top of the world junior rankings, Taylor Townsend was asked to sit out of the girls’ US Open event and denied a wild card to have a crack among the pros by the US tennis association due to apparent concerns around her fitness.

Townsend has since played a few times on the US Open show court but Friday was different. This was Arthur Ashe Stadium decked up for its prime time night session. This was a packed crowd waiting to welcome a now 29-year-old homegrown world No.139 taking on a world No.5 Russian teen sensation.

Walking through the tunnel that leads into the gigantic arena, Townsend took off her headphones and turned off the music.

“Because,” she would say later, “I wanted to hear everything. I wanted to hear the people. I wanted to hear the noise. I wanted to hear them call my name.”