"I am coming up on over 36 hours. No food" - Taylor Townsend finds the funny side of agonising hospital stint

Taylor Townsend has been in the wars since commencing her Guadalajara Open Akron campaign. Less than 72 hours after completing the career Grand Slam, she was back competing in singles, but that took a surprising turn in the form of a trip to the hospital for an emergency surgery. Her spirits did not seem to be too dampened despite being without food or drink for 36 hours.

Townsend, teamed up with Katerina Siniakova, blasted their way to US Open glory in fine fashion. She was not celebrating for long, travelling south to Mexico for the WTA 500 tournament.

Townsend entered as a wildcard and came back from a set down to defeat Tatjana Maria in the first round of the event. The German won the opening set tiebreak to love but would only win five games for the rest of the match as the American sealed her spot in the second round.

It was an ominous task in the form of Marta Kostyuk, the number one seed. Townsend had lost both previous contests against the Ukrainian and would not even have a chance to correct that this time round after some unforeseen circumstances saw the 30-year-old forced to withdraw from the tournament as she made her way to hospital.

"Hi everybody," she wrote on Instagram. "On the heels of achieving my first career Grand Slam at the US Open, I was so excited to play in front of you all at Guadalajara. Because of emergency surgery, I am forced to withdraw from the GDL Open, and it breaks my heart. But I'm looking forward to coming back next year to see all of you, the greatest tennis fans. Viva Mexico!" Taylor

Her most recent update comes in the form of a lighter note. She proved to still have a sense of humour but was forced to sit without food or drink for a very long time. "I am coming up on over 36 hours. No food. I was finally able to drink something, but I am just going to disappear into this bed. You see the crack over there? I am just gonna fall right through that."

She would have company in the form of her son, who gave her some much-needed support. "Baby boy told me to flex up and be strong... so that I shall," she wrote, recalling the sweet message.

Kostyuk, who was supposed to play Townsend, sailed into the quarter-finals without even playing a point. She would be thrown into the deep end against Liudmila Samsonova, knowing that a title triumph would put her in the top eight of the WTA Race.

Her WTA Finals debut has since taken a dent in a bruising defeat against the Russian. Kostyuk took the first set, but Samsonova would soon have parity in a dominant second-set display. The match seemed to be going the way of the Madrid Open champion, who broke to love to lead 4-2, but Samsonova broke back instantly before striking late but true to seal the win.

The winner was guaranteed to face an American, with Peyton Stearns prevailing against former US Open champion Sloane Stephens.

On the other side of the draw, the reigning champion and No.2 seed Iva Jovic is flying in a tournament she is loving. A 6-2, 6-1 thrashing against Magdalena Frech sets her up with a semi-final clash versus Cristina Bucsa. The final will be played on September 19.