"The timing is super weird' - Taylor Townsend shows harsh reality of tennis travel life as she gets ready for WTA comeback after China racism row

WTA World No. 2 in women's doubles, Taylor Townsend, has shared her thoughts on the challenging journey of travel while adjusting the schedule for her next tournament in Japan. The American star was last seen in action at the 2025 US Open tournament and the Billie Jean King Cup competition.

Townsend has won 10 WTA doubles titles, including the 2024 Wimbledon Championships and 2025 Australian Open, with her partner and World No. 1 in doubles, Katerina Siniakova. She missed the China tournaments due to an ankle injury.

Through her recent Instagram story, the Chicago native expressed her views on her travel strategy, highlighting her long flight to Japan for her next tournaments. Apart from this, she also reflected on the harsh aspects of travel life. In her caption, she mentioned:

"Tennis travel life 🙏🏾😱"

She shared through her Instagram story:

"Okay, so, It's like 1 something in the morning. My flight is at 9 o'clock in the morning to leave to go to Japan. So I'm just gonna try and pull a all-nighter. The timing is super weird because we like fly all day and then we land like the next day like 9 p.m. So I'm gonna do my best to try and like stay up and not sleep so that I can sleep on the plane."

Screenshot of Taylor Townsend's Instagram story | Source: IG/tay_taytownsend

During her US Open tournament journey, Townsend competed in all three categories: singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles. In singles, she reached the Round of 16. In mixed doubles with partner and ATP World No. 6 Ben Shelton, she reached the quarterfinal round. In women's doubles with Siniakova, she reached the final round.

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Taylor Townsend issued apology for her views on Chinese cuisine

While having dinner with her team during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Shenzhen, China, Taylor Townsend shared her thoughts on Chinese cuisine, expressing her revulsion at certain dishes.

Due to her comments, Townsend received criticism from the community and later apologized for her remarks against Chinese food.

"I understand that I am so privileged as a professional athlete to be able to travel all around the world and experience cultural differences. The tournament and everyone have been so kind and so gracious. The things that I said were not representative of that at all, and I just truly wanted to apologize," she shared, via South China Morning Post.

Taylor Townsend played impressively with Team USA at the Billie Jean King Cup competition. Her team defeated Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals and Great Britain in the semifinals, losing to Italy in the finals.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam