Gauff, Osaka Shine And Townsend Ousts Wimbledon Champ Halep

Day 4 (Thursday) on the U.S. Open in NYC was one other glimpse into the way forward for girls’s tennis. 

Defending champion and world #1 Naomi Osaka had a straight units victory in entrance of pals Kobe Bryant and Colin Kaepernick. 6-2, 6-Four over Magada Linette to advance to the third spherical. 

15-year-old American sensation Cori “Coco” Gauff, received an exciting three set match in opposition to Timea Babos 6-2, Four-6, 6-Four to advance to the third spherical as effectively, the place she is going to play Osaka. 

And in essentially the most gorgeous upset of the ladies’s draw, to this point, twenty-three 12 months previous Taylor Townsend defeated the #Four ranked participant on the earth and 2019 Wimbledon champion, Simona Halep. 

Townsend served and volleyed her strategy to a 2-6, 6-Three, 7-6 win and a spot within the third spherical of a serious for the primary time in her profession. 

This was additional particular for Townsend, who at one time was, the “subsequent nice hope” of American girls’s tennis. A lot the identical approach, Osaka and Gauff are actually. 

She battled by way of confidence points, poor type and among the issues that may derail a promising younger profession. 

Following the match Townsend was emotional in her on-court interview saying:

“This implies lots. It’s been an extended journey.”

For thus lengthy, tennis has been a predominantly white sport, and whereas the numbers nonetheless lean closely in that course, an increasing number of folks of shade are taking part and we’re seeing them excel on the highest ranges. 

For his or her components, every of those girls, albeit in several methods, perceive the stress and what it’s prefer to be dubbed because the “subsequent” or fairly actually the inheritor obvious to the best participant of all time, Serena Williams. 

All of them appear to know the macro and what meaning to the game and what they symbolize. 

However in addition they have a eager sense of the micro and what a particular second, time and alternative that is. 

Following her match win, Gauff mentioned:

“I noticed Taylor received at the moment. I feel we’re all simply type of pushing one another. Clearly after we play in opposition to one another, we do not need the opposite particular person to win. However actually after we’re enjoying another person, we root for one another. We grew up collectively and prepare collectively on a regular basis.”

Osaka weighed in, earlier than she knew Gauff could be her opponent, saying:

“Yeah, she’s tremendous candy and I’d like to play her, after all. For me, once I hear folks speaking about somebody, I wish to have the chance to play them simply to evaluate it for myself. You understand what I imply? So, yeah, positively would love that…”

And Townsend:

“I feel, like, that is the fantastic thing about this sport, you can watch folks from such a younger age type of develop as folks and gamers. For me, like, you already know, I’ve simply developed. Like I mentioned, I’ve all the time been this particular person. I feel for some years I used to be misplaced, misplaced in a sea of quite a lot of stuff. However it’s good to have the ability to come as much as the floor and float, finally swim.”

Right here’s to the way forward for girls’s tennis. They’re younger, Black, and glorious.