Taylor Townsend and Kateřina Siniaková defeated the American pairing of Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 in the women's doubles final on Friday at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The victory marked a watershed moment for Townsend, who claimed her first Grand Slam doubles title while Siniaková secured her second, and together they completed their team career Grand Slam across all four major tournaments.
Standing at the microphone on court moments after the final point, the 30-year-old Townsend addressed the crowd with characteristic confidence.
"Y'all know this is my moment," she started, "and I'm about to take it."The moment represented vindication for a player whose path to the top had been marked by institutional rejection, body-shaming, and years of financial struggle after the United States Tennis Association withdrew support early in her career.
The Chicago native's journey to this championship began in earnest during her junior years, when she emerged as a prodigy. In 2012, at just 16 years old, Townsend won the US Open junior doubles title, adding to victories at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Yet that same year, her mother revealed that the USTA had denied funding for Townsend's trip to New York, forcing the family to fundraise locally to cover her expenses. The federation's decision, reportedly influenced by then-player development chief Pat McEnroe's assessment of her physical fitness, would cast a long shadow over the early stages of her professional career.
As her pro career faltered to meet the expectations set by her junior success, Townsend became a target for criticism centred on her appearance rather than her tennis. The consequences were severe: her world ranking plummeted from 94th to 304th, and without sponsorship support, she was forced to play tournaments essentially for travel money. At the 2016 US Open, she scraped through qualifying only to lose in the first round to former world number one Caroline Wozniacki.
Rather than fade from the sport, Townsend persevered. She cracked the top 100 again in 2017 and continued to build her game. By 2019, she qualified for the main draw once more and reached the fourth round, defeating top-10 player Simona Halep before falling to eventual champion Bianca Andreescu. Motherhood in 2021 might have derailed her trajectory, but instead she used it as motivation to reach the best physical condition of her career.
The breakthrough came in 2024 when Townsend captured her maiden doubles Grand Slam title at Wimbledon alongside Siniaková. The partnership, which began unconventionally through a direct message on Instagram, proved remarkably effective.
"I always say it: Guys, don't be afraid to slide in the DMs,"Townsend later joked about how the collaboration started. The pair continued their success into 2025, winning the Australian Open doubles title before arriving at the US Open as the top seeds.
The 2025 US Open had offered a tantalising preview of what was to come. Townsend and Siniaková reached the final only to fall to Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe in straight sets. Though disappointed, Townsend vowed they would return and finish the job.
"I wasn't in 100% health, and I said, I'm going to come, and I'm going to do what I can,"she reflected on her junior victory years later.
"To be able to come here and win as an adult, you know, and be able to play on Arthur Ashe and to hold this trophy, it's something that's so special to me, because I don't forget the things that I've gone through."
This year's path to the final was commanding. According to reports from the tournament, Townsend and Siniaková did not drop a set through their first four matches, demonstrating the dominance that had made them the tournament's top seeds. In the final itself, Krueger and Montgomery—who were former 2021 girls' doubles champions—mounted a brief challenge by taking the opening set. However, the top-ranked pair swiftly regrouped, shutting out their opponents in the second set before cruising to victory.
The match lasted 1 hour and 53 minutes, a relatively straightforward affair once Townsend and Siniaková found their rhythm. For Siniaková, the victory added to an already stellar resume: she now holds 12 Grand Slam women's doubles titles and 39 women's doubles titles overall, cementing her status among the sport's elite doubles players.
A broader moment for American tennis
Townsend's triumph arrived at a moment when American tennis, particularly among players of colour, was experiencing a notable resurgence. She made a fourth-round singles run at this year's US Open before losing to top seed Aryna Sabalenka, and she had also won the Roland Garros doubles title with Siniaková in June. In the interview room after her victory, dressed in one of her signature tasselled outfits and holding two Honey Deuces, Townsend took time to acknowledge the broader significance of the moment.
"I'm so proud to be able to click on the TV and watch Frances [Tiafoe] and Ben [Shelton],"she said.
"One of them is going to be able to be in a Grand Slam final, and that's a beautiful thing. You know, Robin, myself, you know, it's been Coco, it's been a phenomenal US Open for people of color, and just being able to show people, like, it's possible, you know?"She also made a point of uplifting Montgomery, the doubles wildcard entrant who had qualified for the singles main draw.
The US Open has served as the through-line of Townsend's entire career arc. It was here, as a junior, that she first captured national attention—not only for her tennis but for the story of institutional neglect. It was here, as a struggling professional, that she fought to qualify and prove her worth. And it was here, finally, that she claimed the Grand Slam doubles title that had eluded her for so long. In doing so, she completed a career Grand Slam with Siniaková and delivered a full-circle moment that transcended sport, embodying resilience against the odds and the vindication of a player once written off by her own federation.
