Taylor Townsend, 30, was due on court in Mexico for a second-round meeting with Marta Kostyuk when word came that she would not play. The tournament first cited illness. Hours later, Townsend confirmed in a message to fans that she was withdrawing to undergo emergency surgery, without disclosing the specific nature of the procedure.
The timing is jarring. Five days earlier, in New York, Townsend and Katerina Siniakova beat Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 to lift the US Open women’s doubles trophy, a result that completed a career Grand Slam for the pairing after their Wimbledon title in 2024, the Australian Open in 2025 and Roland Garros earlier this year.
From New York to a walkover in Mexico
Her US Open singles run had also lifted her: she reached the fourth round, beating fifth seed Mirra Andreeva along the way before losing to Aryna Sabalenka. She flew straight from Flushing Meadows to Jalisco and, earlier in the week, rallied from a set down to beat Tatjana Maria 6-7 (0), 6-3, 6-2 in her opening singles match in Mexico. That win set up the second-round tie with Kostyuk that never happened.
Kostyuk, the top seed, was awarded the walkover and moves into the quarter-finals in Guadalajara. Her next opponent will come out of the match between Liudmila Samsonova and Kayla Day.
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A short, hard message
Townsend has not spelled out what needed operating on. What she has shared has been brief and unvarnished, including a line on her Instagram Stories that read simply “Welp.. this sh*t definitely wasn’t on my bingo card”.
In her separate note to Mexican fans, she said the withdrawal had broken her heart, coming so soon after the biggest week of her career.
No return date, no recovery timeline
No return date has been given, and no recovery timeline has been announced. Townsend has not said which tournament she is targeting next.
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