Taylor Townsend (tennis)

Taylor Townsend

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Boca Raton, Florida
Born	April 16, 1996 Chicago, Illinois
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro	December 2012
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$472,280
Singles
Career record	67–56
Career titles	0 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 94 (16 February 2015)
Current ranking	No. 383 (8 February 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	1R (2015)
French Open	3R (2014)
Wimbledon	1R (2014)
US Open	1R (2014)
Doubles
Career record	52–28
Career titles	0 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 111 (19 October 2015)
Current ranking	No. 117 (8 February 2016)
Grand Slam Doubles results
US Open	3R (2011)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
US Open	SF (2014)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	1–0
Last updated on: 8 February 2016.

Taylor Townsend (born April 16, 1996) is an American professional tennis player and the 2012 Australian Open girls' singles champion. She is the first American to hold the no. 1 year-end world ranking for junior girls since Gretchen Rush in 1982.^[1]

Career

2013

Townsend competed in the 2013 Citi Open, playing in the main draw in doubles for the first time. She reached the finals with partner Canadian Eugenie Bouchard.

2014

Townsend won her first ITF title in Charlottesville, defeating Montserrat González in the final. Together with Asia Muhammad she also won doubles competition at the same tournament. Just a week later she won her second ITF title in Indian Harbour Beach, her opponent in the final this time was Yulia Putintseva. She again also won the doubles competition there.

Townsend won the USTA wild card entry into the French Open,^[2] where she made her Grand Slam singles debut ranked no. 205 in the world. In the first round, she defeated fellow American world no. 65 Vania King, and then upset twentieth seed and no. 1 Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet in the second round to become the first American woman to advance to the third round.^[3] Townsend then lost to fourteenth seed Carla Suárez Navarro in straight sets.

2012 US Open controversy

Townsend was asked by the USTA to sit out of the 2012 U.S Open Junior tournament due to her weight and also denied her request for a wild card for the U.S. Open main draw or the qualifying tournament which she had received the year before.^[4] Patrick McEnroe stated, "Our concern is her long-term health, number one, and her long-term development as a player. We have one goal in mind: For her to be playing in Arthur Ashe Stadium in the main draw and competing for major titles when it's time."^[5] Townsend was shocked by the USTA's decision given the fact that she was the top-ranked junior girl in the world.^[6]

The decision was sharply criticized by players like Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova.^[7] Sports Illustrated wrote, "Instead of helping a promising young talent gain that confidence and experience gleaned from competing, the USTA has taken a paternalistic tack, deeming itself the arbiter and architect behind Townsend's past, present and future success. It's the arrogance of institution built on the belief that there is a tried-and-true formula to build a champion."^[4]

The USTA at first refused to pay for Townsend's expenses,^[5] so she entered the tournament by paying on her own and was defeated in the quarterfinals by Anett Kontaveit in straight sets. Later, they agreed to pay for Townsend's expenses as Patrick McEnroe spoke of a miscommunication.^[8] Still, the USTA decision cost Townsend an opportunity to compete for a wild card to enter the main draw of the US Open.^[6]

Following the controversy, Townsend split from her USTA coaches and began training with former world No. 4, Olympic doubles gold medalist, and 1990 Wimbledon finalist Zina Garrison, who has been her coach ever since.^[9] Townsend is also coached by Kamau Murray, whom she has known since she was 6 years old.^[10]

WTA career finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0) Premier (0–0) International (0–1)

Titles by surface Hard (0–1) Grass (0–0) Clay (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner–up	1.	3 August 2013	Citi Open, Washington, D.C., USA	Hard	Eugenie Bouchard	Shuko Aoyama Vera Dushevina	6–3, 6–3

ITF career finals

Singles (3–1)

$100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments

Finals by surface Hard (0–0) Clay (3–1) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	27 April 2014	Charlottesville, United States	Clay	Montserrat González	6–2, 6–3
Winner	2.	4 May 2014	Indian Harbour Beach, United States	Clay	Yulia Putintseva	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	1.	24 April 2016	Dothan, United States	Clay	Rebecca Peterson	4–6, 2–6
Winner	3.	30 April 2016	Charlottesville, United States	Clay	Grace Min	7–5, 6–1

Doubles (9–3)

$100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments

Finals by surface Hard (2–3) Clay (7–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	22 September 2013	Albuquerque, United States	Hard	Melanie Oudin	Eleni Daniilidou Coco Vandeweghe	4–6, 6–7^(2–7)
Runner-up	2.	3 November 2013	New Braunfels, United States	Hard	Asia Muhammad	Anna Tatishvili Coco Vandeweghe	6–3, 3–6, [11–13]
Winner	1.	27 April 2014	Charlottesville, United States	Clay	Asia Muhammad	Irina Falconi Maria Sanchez	6–3, 6–1
Winner	2.	4 May 2014	Indian Harbour Beach, United States	Clay	Asia Muhammad	Jan Abaza Sanaz Marand	6–2, 6–1
Winner	3.	31 October 2014	Toronto, Canada	Hard (i)	Maria Sanchez	Gabriela Dabrowski Tatjana Maria	7–5, 4–6, [15–13]
Winner	4.	10 May 2015	Indian Harbour Beach, United States	Clay	Maria Sanchez	Angelina Gabueva Alexandra Stevenson	6–0, 6–1
Runner-up	3.	31 January 2016	Maui, United States	Hard	Jessica Pegula	Asia Muhammad Maria Sanchez	2–6, 6–3, [6–10]
Winner	5.	28 February 2016	Rancho Santa Fe, United States	Hard	Asia Muhammad	Jessica Pegula Carol Zhao	6–3, 6–4
Winner	6.	3 April 2016	Osprey, United States	Hard	Asia Muhammad	Louisa Chirico Katerina Stewart	6–1, 6–7 ^(5–7), [10–4]
Winner	7.	16 April 2016	Pelham, United States	Clay	Asia Muhammad	Sophie Chang Caitlin Whoriskey	6–2, 6–3
Winner	8.	24 April 2016	Dothan, United States	Clay	Asia Muhammad	Caitlin Whoriskey Keri Wong	6–0, 6–1
Winner	9.	30 April 2016	Charlottesville, United States	Clay	Asia Muhammad	Alexandra Panova Shelby Rogers	7–6(7–4), 6–0

Junior Grand Slam finals

Girls' Singles

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	2012	Australian Open	Hard	Yulia Putintseva	6–1, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-Up	2013	Wimbledon	Grass	Belinda Bencic	6–4, 1–6, 4–6

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	1R	0–1
French Open	A	A	A	3R	1R	2–2
Wimbledon	A	A	A	1R	A	0–1
US Open	Q2	A	Q3	1R	Q2	0–1

References

1. Taylor Townsend, America’s Latest Tennis Prodigy, Prepares to Turn Pro
2. "Taylor Townsend: Benched No More".
3. "American tennis discovers new star in 18-year-old Taylor Townsend".
4. "Taylor Townsend dispute: USTA cuts funding until No. 1 junior loses weight". Sports Illustrated. September 7, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
5. "Why the USTA Benched America's Best Junior". Wall Street Journal. 8 September 2012.
6. "Taylor Townsend: Benched No More". Wall Street Journal. May 13, 2014.
7. "USTA Handling of Top Junior Player Causing Fits". ESPN. September 9, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
8. "USTA To Pay Townsend's Expenses". Wall Street Journal. 7 September 2012.
9. "Zina Garrison Works With Future Tennis Star Taylor Townsend". NBC Washington. May 16, 2014.
10. "Teen Tennis Star's Success is a Powerful Argument Against Body-Shaming". September 17, 2014.

External links

• Taylor Townsend at the Women's Tennis Association
• Taylor Townsend at the International Tennis Federation
• Taylor Townsend at the Fed Cup
• CoreTennis profile
• Rothenberg, Ben, "Atlanta Teenager Wins Singles Title in Australia", New York Times Straight Sets blog, January 28, 2012. "... Townsend became the first American to win the girls’ singles title at the Australian Open since 1989."
• Tennisthis.com, "Taylor Townsend too fat to play the US Open", "...Townsend told to sit out of 2012 US Open Junior Tournament."