Full US Open Match Video: Townsend vs. Anisimova, 2018

With the current suspension of the ATP and WTA Tours, we are opening up our US Open vault to bring you full match videos of classic encounters through the years in New York. 

Watch on YouTube: Taylor Townsend vs. Amanda Anisimova, 2018 US Open women's singles first round

In a doubly significant match in American women's tennis, Taylor Townsend notched her first career US Open victory, while Amanda Anisimova made her main-draw debut in New York one year after winning the junior singles title.

Townsend, 22 at the time, had reached a career high of No. 61 in July 2018 after winning the USTA Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge and reaching the second round at the French Open and Wimbledon. The 2018 season was the first in which the Chicago native competed in all four Grand Slam singles main draws—a feat she repeated in 2019, when she reached the fourth round at the US Open and defeated No. 4 seed Simona Halep in a third-set tiebreak.

Anisimova, who defeated Coco Gauff to win the 2017 girls' singles title, made her WTA breakthrough at Indian Wells in 2018, where she defeated Petra Kvitova to secure her first Top-10 victory and reach the fourth round. But after a first-round win at the Miami Open, she was forced to withdraw with a right-foot injury that sidelined her for four months.

A 16-year-old Anisimova (she turned 17 during the 2018 US Open, on Aug. 31) returned to competitive action in late July, giving her a short runway in the US Open Series to prepare for her first senior showing in New York.

The complete third-round showdown, along with scores of other great content, is now available to watch on the USTA YouTube channel, or below.