Andy Roddick suggests Taylor Townsend is ‘forcing it a little bit’ after her fiery comments in Austin

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Taylor Townsend qualified for her first WTA singles semifinal and final at the ATX Open in Austin, Texas.

She did, however, fall short in her bid to win the title, losing to her countrywoman Peyton Stearns in the final.

Townsend made headlines after her semifinal win with her post-match interview.

“Everyone that’s talked s—, they gotta eat their words. I’m still standing, I’m still here, I’m not going anywhere,” said Townsend.

“And it’s only just gonna keep getting better from here, so I hope that they buckle up.”

Former world number one Andy Roddick has now shared his reaction to those comments.

Andy Roddick doesn’t believe anyone is really talking badly about Taylor Townsend

Firstly, Roddick couldn’t believe Townsend had never played a tour-level semifinal before.

“That was a weird stat for me, first time she made a tour semifinal, which is crazy to me, because every time I watch Taylor [Townsend] play, I just think she’s so good,” he said during the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘.

“She played singles Saturday, doubles Saturday, singles Sunday, doubles Sunday, takes a flight, and she’s playing qualies, Indian Wells today. That’s a good problem to have!”

Taylor Townsend’s recent schedule (10 matches in seven days)

Roddick then gave his honest verdict on Townsend’s fiery post-match comments in Austin.

“That’s right, don’t talk s— about Taylor, she says!” said Roddick.

“I mean, nobody has really talked that much s—, everyone has pretty much only been cheering for her for a while.

“It was 15 years ago, and I can tell you who it was from and why it was happening.

“But everyone likes her now, she’s still carrying that, she’s kind of forcing it a little bit, because everyone likes her now.

“You can go find heat anywhere on the internet…”

Jon Wertheim interrupted to ask Roddick a question.

“She didn’t reference specifics, I don’t know if this was issues she had when she was 16 with the USTA, which is well trodden, I don’t know if this is unfortunate, regrettable posts she made in China, which she took some heat for, but how much of this do you think… did you play this game too?” he asked.

“Not specific to Taylor… [but the idea of] nobody respects us, it’s us against the world.”

“Yeah… I’m sure we all used it, but at a certain point, it’s tougher to use,” said Roddick.

“It’s not like after being in two Wimbledon finals, you can say no one thought I’d be here.

“I don’t know if I was pursuing it like Michael Jordan.”

Chip on her shoulder or not, Townsend is playing some fine tennis at the moment, on the singles and doubles courts.

Whether she can keep that up remains to be seen.

Is Taylor Townsend still the doubles number one?

Townsend became the doubles number one in July last year and held the top spot for eight weeks.

She dropped the ranking to her partner, Katerina Siniakova, in September, who has since been replaced by Elise Mertens.

Townsend now sits ninth in the doubles rankings, over 2,000 points off the number one.

WTA Doubles Top 10

Currently level with Serena Williams and Venus Williams on eight weeks spent as world number one, Townsend is in pretty good company!

Only time will tell if she will return to world number one, but it will certainly be something to look out for.

First, Townsend will turn her attention to singles and the second round of qualifying at Indian Wells.

Townsend will play Akasha Urhobo for a spot in the main draw on Tuesday, March 3.