One off the biggest stories of the 2025 United States Open to date has been the progression of two unseeded Americans who are in the fourth round–the 58th ranked Ann Li of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and the 139th ranked player in the world, Taylor Townsend of Chicago, Illinois.
Ann Li
Li has reached the fourth round after delivering two notable upsets. She defeated world number 35 Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in round one, and then stunned the 16th seed, 2021 Olympic champion, 2019 United States Open semifinalist and 2025 Wimbledon semifinalist, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-3, 6-3 in round two in their first ever meeting. Li was actually the favourite in round three as she beat Priscilla Hon of Australia, the 126th ranked player in the world, 7-5, 6-3.
In Li’s massive win over Bencic on Wednesday, Li had five aces compared to one for Bencic. Li also broke Bencic four times in eight opportunities.
Next up for Li in the fourth round will be a tough test in an all-American battle. Li’s opponent is the fourth seed Jessica Pegula of Buffalo, New York, the 2024 United States Open finalist. Pegula and Li have beaten each other once in the past. Li won in the semifinals of Lexington in 2018 by a score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Then Pegula bounced back with a 6-3, 7-6 win in the second round of the 2025 French Open.
Taylor Townsend
Townsend of Chicago, Illinois, who is currently ranked 139th in the world, defeated the 69th ranked player Antonia Ruzic of Croatia, 6-4. 6-4. However, it was Townsend’s next two wins that were extremely noteworthy. She stunned the 2017 French Open champion and 25th seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 7-5, 6-1 in the second round, and then beat the fifth seed and 2024 French Open semifinalist Mirra Andreeva of Russia, 7-5, 6-2 in the third round.
Townsend broke Ostapenko eight times in eight opportunities. Then against Andreeva, Townsend won 83% of the points on her first serve, and broke Andreeva five times in 14 opportunities. Townsend only had three double faults compared to five for Andreeva.
Next up for Townsend is Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, the two-time grand slam champion. Krejcikova won the French Open in 2021 and Wimbledon in 2024. Krejcikova has won their only prior matchup. That came in the first round of Launceston, Australia in 2017 by a score of 6-7, 6-2. 6-2. Both Townsend and Krejcikova have both excelled in doubles. They have combined to win 12 grand slam doubles titles.
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