American Taylor Townsend made the most of a spot in prime time at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night, stunning fifth-seeded Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the first time since 2019.

Going into this Grand Slam tournament, Townsend had nowhere near the star power or name recognition of fellow Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula , and she is not seeded in singles play. Yet, Townsend, who is half of the top-ranked women's doubles team in the world and was No. 1 as a junior player, has become one of the biggest stories of the tournament after her postmatch argument with Jelena Ostapenko and the subsequent discourse surrounding it.

"It's bigger than me," Townsend, 29, said on court after the match. "It's about the message. It's about the rep

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