The No. 2 women’s doubles player completed a career Grand Slam with Friday’s US Open victory before proudly shining a light on Black representation on tennis’ biggest stage.

‘I take a lot of pride in this, being a Black woman here,’ Taylor Townsend told the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium after she and partner Katerina Siniakova came back to beat Americans Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 in the finals.

Not only were there two Black women playing in the doubles championship in Townsend and Montgomery, but Friday night’s singles semifinal featured a pair of African-American tennis stars: Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe.

‘There’s two Black women in the finals, two Black men in the semifinals,’ Townsend continued. ‘This is a phenomenal time for tennis, for inspiration, for representation.’

Townsend also thanked tennis great Chanda Rubin, who was on hand down on the court for the post-match ceremony. 

‘Chanda, it means a lot for you to be standing here as well because you paved the way for us, so thank you,’ Townsend told the former No. 6 player in the world. ‘This is a phenomenal time for tennis and it’s just getting started.’

Taylor Townsend of the United States and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic celebrate after winning the US Open to complete a career Grand Slam for both players 

Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery interact during Friday’s finals loss in Queens

Townsend and Siniakova rallied after a rough start contributed to losing the first three games and dropping the first set. The top seeds started looking like it with aggressive shots at the net, and they took control of the match.

‘There was lot of nerves,’ Siniakova, the world’s top-ranked doubles player, said after the win. ‘We were really fighting for this one, so I´m just really proud. We did it.’

The result validated Townsend’s confidence in her play after getting knocked out of the women’s singles tournament by No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. The 30-year-old American expressed confidence in her tennis at the moment, especially knowing she still had another opportunity in doubles.

That turned into her fourth major championship after she and Siniakova won Wimbledon in 2024, the Australian Open in 2025 and the French Open earlier this year. It is Siniakova’s 12th after winning seven with fellow Czech player Barbora Krejcikova and one with Coco Gauff.

It was an impressive run for Krueger and Montgomery, who respectively rank 570th and 610th in doubles and went through each half of defending champions Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski separately in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Krueger and Montgomery reunited five years after winning the U.S. Open girls’ doubles title and advancing a round at the women’s level in 2021.

‘We put (the wild card) to really good use,’ Krueger said.

Katerina Siniakova runs to embrace her doubles partner Taylor Townsend after their win 

Arthur Ashe remains the only Black player to win a men’s singles title at the US Open 

Townsend and Siniakova got retribution after falling short against Routliffe and Dabrowski in the final a year ago. Townsend dropped to her knees after the final point and was all smiles as she said to Siniakova that they finally did it.

‘If flipping the script had a face,’ Townsend said, ‘you’d see my face.’

A total of 18 US Open singles titles have been won by Black men and women, including six by Serena Williams, two for her sister Venus and the legendary Althea Gibson, and one for American Coco Gauff in 2023. However, only one Black player has ever won a men’s US Open singles title in the Open Era – Ashe, himself, in 1968.

Tennis has grown in popularity across all demographics in recent years, but that trend is a bit more pronounced among Black Americans.

In February, the US Tennis Association revealed that 27.3 million Americans played the sport in 2025, reaching a new high for the sixth consecutive year. 

That growth included a 14-percent uptick among Black players and a 10-percent increase with women, according to analysis done by the National Golf Foundation. The NGF analyzed studies conducted by the Physical Activity Council (PAC) Study on Sports and Physical Activity and the PLAY Study (formerly known as the Participation and Engagement Study).