Taylor Townsend was not always planning to play mixed doubles with Alexander Zverev at the US Open.
Townsend and Zverev were announced as part of the initial entry list for the US Open mixed doubles event this year.
They will join the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, Alexandra Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime, as well as Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud in New York.
Many tennis fans were initially confused by the pairing of Townsend and Zverev, and now the former has revealed how it came about.
Taylor Townsend wanted to play with Ben Shelton over Alexander Zverev
Townsend and Zverev have never played together before, and they actually had different partners at last year’s event.
In 2025, Zverev played with Belinda Bencic, while Townsend partnered Ben Shelton, who she has now revealed was her first choice for this year’s event before being asked by the German at Gael Monfils’ retirement event at Roland Garros earlier this year.
“He took me by surprise, actually,” Townsend told Christian’s Court when asked about Zverev. “He asked me to play after the Gael [& Friends doubles event].
“Originally I kind of iced him because I was planning on playing with Ben. And then Alex went into the locker room and asked Ben, ‘Hey Ben are you playing?’ And Ben was like, ‘No, I’m not playing.’
“So he came back to me and said, ‘[Ben’s] not playing.’ So I said, ‘Alright, let’s play then!’”
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What happened when Taylor Townsend played with Ben Shelton in US Open mixed doubles last year?
Townsend and Zverev were actually nearly opponents in the US Open mixed doubles event last year.
However, Zverev and Bencic losing to Christian Harrison and Danielle Collins in the first round meant that match did not happen.
Townsend and Shelton’s run did not last much longer, as they lost in the quarter-finals, also against Harrison and Collins.
As they join forces in 2026, Townsend and Zverev will be hoping to do better than they have with their previous partners.
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Although she did not have a deep run last year, Townsend did reach the US Open mixed doubles final with Donald Young in 2024, before the event was overhauled to be in its current format.
This year’s US Open mixed doubles event will take place between August 24-26.
