(September 6, 2026) FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY – Naomi Osaka is not the only player having fashion moments on court at the US Open. Ahead of her fourth-round match against No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Taylor Townsend had her walkout onto the court in her “Blackout” outfit for her own “moment”,” a black sparkly, feathery coat covered”: a black, sparkly, feathery coat over a black tennis dress.
“It actually was really light. It was feathers,” Townsend said to the media. “That’s what Anthony wanted to make sure, that it was light and airy. There was a bit of a breeze, so you saw maybe the jacket kind of flowing a little bit.
“But the inspiration behind that was really just something very, like, beautiful and kind of dramatic and giving its own, like, moment.
“The dress was really pretty. The dress kind of had all the elements that I wanted, pleats and fringe movement, stuff like that, rhinestones. But we wanted to add a little flare, you know, with the jacket.
“It photographed really nicely, and it was really cool. It was something that, honestly, just wanted to kind of have a little bit of a moment. It was more so of, like, a thing where it’s, like, we have this amazing jacket. Then you take it off, and you reveal this beautiful dress.
“So it wasn’t really anything, you know, crazy that was really put into it, but also, it’s kind of like I felt like it was, you know, you’re taking off, like, your — I don’t know. Taking something off and then you’re, like, boom, I’m ready for war, I’m ready to go. So it’s like I have my armor underneath this jacket.
“Yeah, I felt really good. I felt really confident walking out on the court. I saw some videos of it, because you know, you don’t know what it looks like on the outside. I saw some videos, and it looked really cool.
“So I’m happy I was able to have that moment.”
Townsend lost the fourth-round match to Sabalenka 6-4, 6-3, but is still in the doubles tournament playing with longtime partner Katerina Siniakova.
