"Fantastic to see her home slam": Laura Robson names surprising candidate as the real winner at US Open 2025

Former British player Laura Robson has named a surprising candidate as the real winner at the US Open. The fourth and final Grand Slam of the year is moving towards the business end as the remaining players are giving their all to secure the ultimate prize.

Robson, who now works as a tennis pundit, has recently spoken to Sky Sports, where she named America's Taylor Townsend as a real winner from the US Open. The 31-year-old was of the opinion that Townsend’s performance, especially against Russia’s Mirra Andreeva, was a special one on so many levels. Robson stated that she was not surprised by Townsend’s performance.

“I want to say performance wise my winner of the week is Taylor Townsend,” said Robson. Yes, given her performances, especially the night match against Mira Andreeva. [Her performance did] not shocked me. I've played her before. I had a terrible record against her because she used to just drive me crazy on the court with the drop shots, the flair and just her ability to come forward as well. So few players are able to serve and volley like she can. So, yeah, I would say not surprised, but fantastic to see her home slam.”

Townsend’s win against Andreeva, where she came out on top in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-2, was a special one for so many reasons. The 29-year-old, who recently became the world number one in the doubles category, achieved a significant milestone with that win, managing to equal her best record in a Grand Slam in the singles category.

Before beating the fifth-seeded player, Townsend secured another important win and one-time Grand Slam winner Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-1. While talking during her on-court interview after the win, Townsend admitted that getting such a big result against one of the top players in the world feels good. Townsend also stated that the crowd got to see the real side of her in the match.

"This feels good,” said Townsend. "All I'm going to say is welcome to the show. I feel amazing. I'm really just proud that I kept the main thing the main thing. I want to say thank you to everyone who supported me over these last 48 hours. It's bigger than me. It's about the message, it's about the representation, it's about being bold and being able to show up as yourself and I did that tonight. You guys saw the real Taylor Townsend tonight.

She continued by saying: "I said to my team 'I'm made for this type of stuff' I really feel like it wasn't hard because I stood in my truth. I didn't have to defend anything that I said. I would never allow any drama or anything on the outside to deter me from what my goal is when I step into the lines on the court. That's how I was raised."

Townsend, after her win against Ostapenko, was involved in a controversy where her opponent made some indecent comments. Townsend admitted that she received so many messages of support that she had to turn her phone off. "I said to my team 'Dang, I didn't know this many people had my phone number',” she said. "[I received] so many text messages and stuff, just trying to filter through those things. When I got to the hotel I said 'OK, I'm done'. I put my phone down and I put it on do not disturb."

Townsend’s journey in the competition ended in the fourth round, where she lost to Barbora Krejcikova in a hard-fought contest with a score of 1-6, 7-6, 6-3. Townsend will now turn her attention to the doubles categor,y where she and her partner Katerina Siniakova will face the pair of Yue Yuan and Camila Osorio in the round of 16 on Tuesday.