Badosa’s resurgence continues with impressive win over Townsend at US Open
The Spaniard beat home hope Taylor Townsend 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round of the US Open, where she’ll face Elena-Gabriela Ruse
Paula Badosa, US Open 2024
Paula Badosa continued her remarkable recent resurgence with an excellent victory over home hope Taylor Townsend, beating the American 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round of the US Open in impressive fashion.
Townsend, currently 48th in the world, is a very tricky opponent at the best of times, possessing supreme power off both wings. On her favoured hard courts and in front of a packed home crowd inside Louis Armstrong Stadium, this was always going to be a thorough examination of the endurance of Badosa’s recent form.
But that form held more than firm, with the Spaniard thriving throughout a high-quality match in which Badosa was able to soak up much of her opponent’s easy power before landing precision-placed counter-punches to great effect.
After an injury-plagued 2023, during which a chronic back injury led to serious doubts over the continuation of her career, Badosa has slowly – but quite brilliantly – worked her way back to full form and fitness over the course of 2024.
This incremental progress back to her former self has come to fruition over the summer, as she put together a strong showing at Wimbledon to reach the fourth round. Her level then reached heights near her lofty best as she won her first title in over two-and-a-half years at the Citi Open in Washington.
That title charge was backed up by an impressive run to the semi-finals of Cincinnati, before now surging into the third round of the final Grand Slam of the year with two strong, straight-set wins.
impressive badosa through to maiden third round at us open
An early pair of breaks gave the Spaniard a commanding hold of the opening set, before a late break from Townsend at 5-2 cut the deficit. But Badosa struck back immediately in the final game to seal a 6-3 first-set win.
The second stanza saw the American take the first break in the seventh game en route to a 5-3 lead. But, from there, the 2021 Indian Wells champion upped her level considerably, earning two breaks of serve either side of a couple of holds to take the final four games of the match in emphatic style.
“She’s a tough one. Really tricky, really aggressive. She was serving very well,” Badosa said following her victory.
“I know she’s coming from playing a lot of matches, has a lot of confidence, so I knew it was going to be a battle.
“I’m really happy I returned well, I served well and in important moments I went for it. I’m so happy it went my way.”
Next up for Badosa is a match-up with Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who stunned eight-seeded Barbora Krejcikova in the second round.
Remarkably, this will be the Spaniard’s first appearance in the third round at Flushing Meadows. If this summer is anything to go by, it wouldn’t surprise to see Badosa break that hoodoo further with a fine run in New York to cap an exceptional few months.
