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US Open: Simona Halep sees chances ended by qualifier Taylor Townsend

Meanwhile, teenage sensation Coco Gauff rolls on with win over Timea Babos

Taylor Townsend celebrates victory over Simona Halep during her women’s singles second round match at the 2019 US Open in New York. Photo: Elsa/Getty Images

Fri Aug 30 2019 - 06:37

Simona Halep’s advice to Taylor Townsend came back to bite her after the American qualifier dumped the Wimbledon champion out of the US Open.

Townsend, ranked 116 in the world, came from behind to stun the Romanian fourth seed in a third-set tie-break, winning 2-6 6-3 7-6 (4).

Halep beat Townsend 6-1 6-3 at the Miami Open in March, after which the 23-year-old asked for some tips.

Halep revealed: “After we played together, she came in the locker room and she asked me what she has to improve to be better. Next time I will not say anything.”

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Townsend, who will face Sorana Cirstea in round three, recalled: “I don’t know why I did it, but I did it. It kind of stuck with me.

“I’m not saying that everything she said I implemented into my training, but it was definitely in the back of my head to remember what she said and also remember why I asked, what drove me to ask that question, kind of that hunger and desire to get better.”

Naomi Osaka is over her first-night nerves as her bid to defend her title gathers pace.

Osaka needed three sets to dispatch Anna Blinkova in her first-round match, but there was no such drama in her 6-2 6-4 win over Magda Linette.

“For me, going into this match I was very calm, because I was thinking there is no way my nerves could be worse than they were the day before,” she said.

“For me, I also had that comfort of knowing I have played Magda before. I’d never played Blinkova before, so there is also that added stress not knowing what she can do.

“For me, that stress was taken away today. I came in pretty confident with my abilities and I think that showed a little bit.”

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was another surprise second-round casualty, the sixth seed losing 6-4 6-4 to Andrea Petkovic.

“I think that she likes my game, to be honest,” said the Czech. “She played great. She moved pretty well as well.

“I had my chances, but I was always missing the last things. I was a break up in the second, and I should make it.

“But, yeah, overall I don’t think I really played that bad. That’s how it is. I was really trying hard. I was fighting.”

Teenage wild card Coco Gauff is through after a 6-2 4-6 6-4 win over Hungarian qualifier Timea Babos.

US Open Women’s Singles second round results

(1) Naomi Osaka (Jpn) bt Magda Linette (Pol) 6-2 6-4, Cori Gauff (USA) bt Timea Babos (Hun) 6-2 4-6 6-4, (21) Anett Kontaveit (Est) bt Ajla Tomljanovic (Aus) 4-6 7-5 6-2, (13) Belinda Bencic (Swi) bt Alize Cornet (Fra) 6-4 1-6 6-2, Yulia Putintseva (Kaz) bt (9) Aryna Sabalenka (Blr) 6-3 7-6 (7-3), (23) Donna Vekic (Cro) bt Kaia Kanepi (Est) 7-5 6-3, (26) Julia Goerges (Ger) bt Francesca Di Lorenzo (USA) 7-5 6-0, (7) Kiki Bertens (Ned) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 7-5 6-4, Taylor Townsend (USA) bt (4) Simona Halep (Rom) 2-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4), Sorana Cirstea (Rom) bt Aliona Bolsova (Spa) 3-6 6-4 6-2, (19) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt Danielle Collins (USA) 4-6 6-3 6-4, (15) Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (Can) bt Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) 6-3 7-5, Kristie Ahn (USA) bt Anna Kalinskaya (Rus) 6-2 6-3, Jelena Ostapenko (Lat) bt Alison Riske (USA) 6-4 6-3, (25) Elise Mertens (Bel) bt Kristyna Pliskova (Cze) 6-2 6-2, Andrea Petkovic (Ger) bt (6) Petra Kvitova (Cze) 6-4 6-4, (32) Dayana Yastremska (Ukr) bt Rebecca Peterson (Swe) 6-4 6-1, (20) Sofia Kenin (USA) bt Laura Siegemund (Ger) 7-6 (7-4) 6-0, (16) Johanna Konta (Gbr) bt Margarita Gasparyan (Rus) 6-1 6-0, (33) Shuai Zhang (Chn) bt Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rus) 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-3, Ons Jabeur (Tun) bt Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Blr) 3-6 6-4 6-2, Karolina Muchova (Cze) bt (29) Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe) 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7-2), (22) Petra Martic (Cro) bt Ana Bogdan (Rom) 6-2 6-4, (12) Anastasija Sevastova (Lat) bt Iga Swiatek (Pol) 3-6 6-1 6-3, Fiona Ferro (Fra) bt Kristina Mladenovic (Fra) 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-3, (18) Qiang Wang (Chn) bt Alison Van Uytvanck (Bel) 7-5 6-4, (30) Maria Sakkari (Gre) bt Shuai Peng (Chn) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2