Taylor Townsend pulled off the biggest shock of the US Open as she came from a set down to stun fourth seed Simona Halep in the second round. (TENNIS NEWS)
Wimbledon champion Halep was expected to have few problems against the qualifier and world number 116, but was on the end of a remarkable comeback as Townsend prevailed 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) on Thursday (August 29).
Halep took the first set in dominant fashion, but Townsend found inspiration in the second set and brought the Arthur Ashe crowd to life in New York.
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The former girls No. 1 demonstrated outstanding reflexes at the net and took the contest to Halep as she set up a decider.
Townsend has to this point been unable to deliver on the potential she displayed as a junior, but she continued on the attack and punished the Halep second serve, breaking to love in game five.
Having only once previously reached the third round of a grand slam, any nerves on Townsend's part would have been understandable.
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They promptly showed up as she let two match points go begging when serving for the match as Halep found her best tennis in the closing moments.
However, Halep wasted a match point of her own, setting up a frenetic tie-break that was settled when the Romanian fired into the net to an eruption from the home crowd as an emotional Townsend raised her arms and celebrated the biggest win of her career.
OSAKA WINS
Naomi Osaka moved into Round 3 with a straight-sets win over in-form Magda Linette, but she did not have it all her own way.
Reigning champion Osaka was taken the distance by Anna Blinkova in her opener on Tuesday but avoided a repeat after reeling off five straight games to come from behind in the second set and triumph 6-2, 6-4.
The World No. 1 will face teenage sensation Coco Gauff in the third round.
KVITOVA OUT
Petra Kvitova conceded she might have returned too early from the arm injury that kept her out of the French Open, as her grand slam season ended with a second-round defeat to Andrea Petkovic at the US Open.
The two-time Wimbledon champion reached the final at the Australian Open this year before being forced to pull out of Roland Garros in May.
Kvitova did not play any further tournaments prior to Wimbledon, where she reached the fourth round before losing to Johanna Konta.
The World No. 6 was undone at Flushing Meadows by a player she has consistently had problems with, Petkovic going 6-5 up in the career head-to-head with Kvitova by condemning her to a 6-4, 6-4 defeat.
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Kvitova revealed she has swelling on her arm but said the mental pain of skipping Wimbledon would have been more troubling than a physical complaint.
"Maybe I should take one more week before Wimby, but that means I'm going to skip Wimby, which, you know, on the mental side would be much tougher, I think," Kvitova told a news conference.
"Maybe the arm would be much better right now, but I didn't feel any pain. It's just getting swollen, which means something is there but I don't know what is there."
