American Taylor Townsend had to learn to control what she can and not sweat the rest.
Whether that was motherhood or soul-searching — or the former bringing on the latter — the new, improved Townsend was comfortable in her own skin and put on a show in Flushing Meadows.
It was a raw, emotional show in a 7-6 (1), 7-5 upset of 18th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia on Wednesday that sent Townsend into the third round of the U.S. Open.
“Man, this is what I train for. … I’ve worked really hard to be in the place where I am [now],” said Townsend, clad in a Yankees cap. “I never take a day for granted. … These are the times, and a day like this I’d be proud to share with my son and say, ‘Look, you put in the work, and you reap the rewards.’
“Motherhood has given me a different perspective towards the game. I really have fallen back in love not only with the sport but with the process. For the longest time I was like, ‘I know I can. I know I can.’ But really now I truly believe I’m a top player. … Days like this are truly special to me. It highlights what I’ve been building in my mind.”
For Townsend, the victory — as well as her win over third-ranked Jessica Pegula in Roma earlier this year — was as much in her mind as on the court.
Ranked just 132nd in the world and the last player to get direct entry into the main draw, Townsend has now knocked off her second top-20 foe of the season.
She’ll face No. 10 Karolina Muchovain in the third round.
After clinching the win over Haddad Maia before a raucous crowd on Court 17, Townsend thrust her arm skyward then punched down toward the court.
She let out a loud roar, and the crowd responded.
Townsend had a long hug with her coach, emotions pouring out. She recently went three months without seeing her aforementioned young son, Adyn Aubrey Johnson, born in 2021.
And having dedicated her season to him, Townsend says he’s the wellspring her newfound belief flows from.
“I guess having a kid,” she said, adding, “I know I’m not here by talent. Yes, I have talent, but I’m here because I work my ass off to get here. … For me, the belief has come from putting in the work, putting in the hard yards, not only physically but mentally, breaking down a lot of different barriers that I had in my mind.”
Asked what’s been holding her back, Townsend answered simply herself.
Once asked by the USTA to sit out the 2012 U.S. Open Junior tourney because of her weight, recently she’s done a self-evaluation on herself, not as a player but as a person.
“I really had to dive into my personal self and try to figure out and break down how do you feel about yourself, how is it that the experiences you’ve had have affected you when it comes to the tennis world? People talking about my weight, people talking about very sensitive subjects, how I look,” Townsend said. “Physical appearance is always judged from the time you step out on the court.
“I really had to break down myself and just understand myself more as a person. It was so cool because I embraced the environment [Wednesday]. Me showing the emotion and passion, pumped up, the crowd, doing little stuff after I hit certain shots. This is me.
“So finally accepting who I am and what all that means, letting it come out, letting it show and shine in stages and places like this. Before I always feel like I had to act a certain way or be a certain thing or measure who I was. But now I’m just like, ‘Hey, this is Taylor. Take it, leave it, you like it, don’t like it, whatever. Can’t make everyone happy.’ It was very deep. It was very personal.”