Caty McNally and Taylor Townsend surged back from a set and a break down to defeat No.12 seeds Caroline Dolehide and Storm Sanders 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday and reach the US Open women's doubles final.
The unseeded all-American pair, both of whom won multiple Grand Slam doubles titles in their junior careers, upset their compatriot Dolehide and Australia's Sanders in 1 hour and 34 minutes.
After giving birth to her son Adyn last year, Townsend caps her successful return to the tour with a trip to her first Grand Slam final at pro level. Earlier this season, she also reached the women's doubles semifinals at Roland Garros alongside Madison Keys.
McNally is into her second straight US Open women's doubles final. She paired with Coco Gauff to reach last year's final in Flushing Meadows, where they narrowly fell to Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai.
🇺🇸 dream!@CatyMcNally & @TaylorTownsend are into the #USOpen women's doubles final. pic.twitter.com/xhxIhudkzP
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2022
On Louis Armstrong Stadium on Friday, powerful returns by Sanders and strong serves by Dolehide allowed them to sweep through the first set, and the No.12 seeds led by a break at 2-0 in the second set as well.
But a Townsend return winner gave her and McNally their first break of the day to tie the second set at 2-2. From there, it was the volleys by McNally and Townsend which dominated as they leveled the match at one set apiece.
A volley winner by McNally gave her and Townsend the decisive break for 3-2 in the third set, and they broke serve again in the final game, which was wrapped up with a Townsend overhead winner.
McNally and Townsend will take on No.3 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in Sunday's final. The Czechs beat No.10 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez in Thursday's semifinal.
Former Doubles World No.1 players Krejcikova and Siniakova have won five Grand Slam titles together, and a victory on Sunday will give them the Career Grand Slam. Siniakova is also projected to return to WTA Doubles World No.1 after the US Open, win or lose.