It started with a rain delay.
It ended with a night to remember for tennis fans.
Sunday’s exhibition match between Sloane Stephens and Taylor Townsend, to kick off the Atlanta Open, was delayed for more than an hour. Stephens is most notably known for being the 2017 U.S. Open Champion and the 2018 French Open finalist. For Townsend, she entered this match having won the Wimbledon doubles title earlier this month — her first Grand Slam championship in her career. Townsend was an injury replacement for Venus Williams.
Entering the match, Stephens lead the head-to-head matchup 2-0, with the most recent meeting coming in February 2023 at the ATX Open in Austin, Texas. This third meeting had a lighter feel than their prior two meetings. In the end, Townsend defeated Stephens 7-6, 6-3 in what was more about fun and crowd engagement than stats. Though an exhibition match, the pair showed their true competitiveness throughout the match while simultaneously keeping it friendly and jovial.
Townsend became a fan favorite easily with her witty remarks to the crowd after nearly every point. One time before receiving Stephens’ serve, Townsend jokingly asked the crowd where Stephens would aim her serve.
Toward the end of the first set, Stephens brought out her secret weapon – one of the ball girls to join her team in a 2 vs. 1 game against Townsend, a fun surprise the entire crowd enjoyed and applauded.
The comradeship between both can be summed up as they would sit next to each other in between games to dry off and stay hydrated. Both had smiles while playing throughout both sets.
“Yeah, it was great. Being able to play in a sold-out crowd makes it incredibly special,” Stephens said. “But I think they obviously come out a little bit more because they don’t get to see as much women’s tennis so to be able to play here in front of a nice crowd was special.”
The pair commented on how the style of play was freer and lighter than competing on the tour, especially in Grand Slams matches.
“We have an opportunity to let our personalities come out because we know it’s for entertainment, so we can really have fun,” Townsend said. “Tennis can be a very prissy sport where you must be quiet and there’s etiquette and rules. So, to be able to break out of that is always nice and fun.”
Both Stephens and Townsend said that hopefully the ATP and WTA can find a way to bring both men’s and women’s professional tennis back to the city, as this year marks the grand finale of the Atlanta Open, which has been on the ATP tour since 2010. Both believe the WTA would do well in Atlanta but realize it’s out of their control.
“Yeah, you got to ask the people with the checkbooks and pens,” Townsend said.
Credit: Ginny Duffy
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