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Serena: Townsend decision 'tragedy'

Taylor Townsend is the world's top-ranked girl.
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Updated Sep 11, 2012 1:56 PM ET
     
 

NEW YORK (AP)

Serena Williams says she was alarmed by the U.S. Tennis Association's decision to hold a top junior player out of competition over concerns about her fitness.

Taylor Townsend

BIGGEST LOSER

USTA's message to teen about fitness comes out all wrong, Greg Couch says.

Sixteen-year-old Taylor Townsend is the world's top-ranked girl. The Wall Street Journal first reported last week that the USTA withheld funding her tournament appearances while she focused on getting in better shape.

''If that happened, that's obviously a tragedy, because everyone deserves to play,'' Williams said Monday, a day after winning the U.S. Open.

''She's so sweet and she works so hard,'' she added. ''For a female, particularly, in the United States, in particular, and African-American, to have to deal with that is unnecessary. ... Women athletes come in all different sizes and shapes and colors and everything. I think you can see that more than anywhere on the tennis tour.''

The USTA eventually backtracked and decided to pay her expenses for the U.S. Open, FOXSports.com's Greg Couch writes. Patrick McEnroe, head of USTA player development, said it had all been a misunderstanding.

Townsend played at the Open, winning the junior doubles title and reaching the quarterfinals in singles.

''She's still No. 1,'' Williams said. ''That's saying something.''

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