Serena Williams showed her true colors with | Sports News

Taylor Townsend savored a career-defining US Open marketing campaign, advancing to the second week of singles competitors and claiming the doubles runner-up spot alongside Katerina Siniakova.

The world No. 1 doubles participant shut down critics following a heated exchange with former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who accused Townsend of having “no class” and “no education” after their second-round battle.

The journey to the highest has been difficult for Townsend, who endured body-shaming from the USTA during her junior years earlier than stepping away from tennis briefly to welcome her first baby, son Adyn Aubrey, in 2021. The American tennis sensation has now disclosed that Serena Williams grew to become an sudden source of help during her being pregnant, regardless of the pair not being close associates.

Williams, who famously captured the 2017 Australian Open whereas anticipating her first baby, supplied help to Townsend during her being pregnant journey, even serving to her secure child necessities.

The two-time doubles Grand Slam winner shared with The Pivot Podcast, “I got the closest with Serena when I was pregnant.

“I went over to her home and he or she put a complete Amazon listing collectively for me of all of the issues that I needed to get for the newborn, and like these occasions had been, that was essentially the most dialog I had ever had with her.”

However, Townsend, who battled Williams across both singles and doubles courts during her career, acknowledges that their competitive relationship prevented a genuine friendship from developing.

“It’s truthfully surreal for me. It was actually cool, particularly with the ability to expertise that right here. Venus and Serena, , I’ve regarded up to them for years,” she explained.

“But even for thus a few years on tour, it was by no means like a friendship. It was, ‘I’m out right here and also you’re one other piece of competitors. If I bought to take you, I gotta take you out’.

“There’s an aura where it’s like, when we in this arena, we ain’t friends with buddies, and it’s no faking the funk, you know what I’m saying.”

Townsend has additionally battled Venus Williams twice during current weeks. The 45-year-old staged a triumphant comeback in Washington this previous July, advancing to the second spherical in each singles and doubles competitors.

Venus teamed up with Hailey Baptiste in doubles, the place they fell to eventual champions Townsend and Zhang Shuai. Subsequently, on the current US Open, prime seeds Townsend and Katerina Siniakova defeated Venus and Leylah Fernandez within the quarter-finals.

The elder Williams sister additionally overtly expressed her backing for Townsend following her conflict with Ostapenko.

“My thoughts about it? It was a lot of drama. It was a lot of drama. I thought Taylor handled it amazing. I really did,” she stated.

“I just thought with her as a mom, how she handled it, her son will be watching. Her son is watching. She handled it with class, a situation that was not so classy. Just moved on and won again.

“So she’s handling it superb. I’m rooting for her. She’s a fantastic particular person, a great mum. I hope she will be able to keep going.”