Playing at Arthur Ashe in the US Open is everything it's meant to be for first-time players

Taylor Townsend was 7 years old the first time she got to play at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She had won an essay contest and got to hit with Serena Williams, Roger Federer and other stars before the 2003 US Open got underway.

Eleven years later, Townsend made her main draw debut at the 2014 US Open and saw a familiar face in her first-round match at Flushing Meadows in the New York City borough of Queens: Serena Williams. While Townsend had technically been there before, and had a vivid memory of seeing Williams across the net, this time everything was different. In addition to the daunting task of facing Williams, the defending champion and the tournament's top seed, this time there would be nearly 24,000 fans in the stands at the biggest tennis stadium in the world for a prime-time night match — and almost everyone would be rooting against her.

Townsend was a mix of nerves and excitement all day leading into the match.

«It's definitely an experience I'll never forget,» Townsend told ESPN last week. «We were the second night match so the crowd was prepped and primed with Honey Deuces [the US Open's iconic cocktail]. It felt like everyone was a few Honey Deuces in. I was super nervous throughout; playing Serena just made me even more nervous than I would have been against anyone else, but I enjoyed every moment of it. The crowd, the energy, the atmosphere — it was amazing.»

Williams won the match convincingly 6-3, 6-1, but Townsend still looks back on the match fondly.

«Looking back, of course I say, 'Oh, I wish I could have played this point different or done this differently,' but at the end of the day, the experience that I had was the experience that I was supposed to have,» Townsend said. «And I wouldn't change it,