Taylor Townsend (tennis)

Taylor Townsend
Country (sports)  United States
Residence Boca Raton, Florida
Born (1996-04-16) 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 Canada Eugenie Bouchard Japan Shuko Aoyama
Russia 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 Paraguay Montserrat González 6–2, 6–3
Winner 2. 4 May 2014 Indian Harbour Beach, United States Clay Kazakhstan Yulia Putintseva 6–1, 6–1
Runner-up 1. 24 April 2016 Dothan, United States Clay Sweden Rebecca Peterson 4–6, 2–6
Winner 3. 30 April 2016 Charlottesville, United States Clay United States 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 United States Melanie Oudin Greece Eleni Daniilidou
United States Coco Vandeweghe
4–6, 6–7(2–7)
Runner-up 2. 3 November 2013 New Braunfels, United States Hard United States Asia Muhammad Georgia (country) Anna Tatishvili
United States Coco Vandeweghe
6–3, 3–6, [11–13]
Winner 1. 27 April 2014 Charlottesville, United States Clay United States Asia Muhammad United States Irina Falconi
United States Maria Sanchez
6–3, 6–1
Winner 2. 4 May 2014 Indian Harbour Beach, United States Clay United States Asia Muhammad United States Jan Abaza
United States Sanaz Marand
6–2, 6–1
Winner 3. 31 October 2014 Toronto, Canada Hard (i) United States Maria Sanchez Canada Gabriela Dabrowski
Germany Tatjana Maria
7–5, 4–6, [15–13]
Winner 4. 10 May 2015 Indian Harbour Beach, United States Clay United States Maria Sanchez Russia Angelina Gabueva
United States Alexandra Stevenson
6–0, 6–1
Runner-up 3. 31 January 2016 Maui, United States Hard United States Jessica Pegula United States Asia Muhammad
United States Maria Sanchez
2–6, 6–3, [6–10]
Winner 5. 28 February 2016 Rancho Santa Fe, United States Hard United States Asia Muhammad United States Jessica Pegula
Canada Carol Zhao
6–3, 6–4
Winner 6. 3 April 2016 Osprey, United States Hard United States Asia Muhammad United States Louisa Chirico
United States Katerina Stewart
6–1, 6–7 (5–7) , [10–4]
Winner 7. 16 April 2016 Pelham, United States Clay United States Asia Muhammad United States Sophie Chang
United States Caitlin Whoriskey
6–2, 6–3
Winner 8. 24 April 2016 Dothan, United States Clay United States Asia Muhammad United States Caitlin Whoriskey
United States Keri Wong
6–0, 6–1
Winner 9. 30 April 2016 Charlottesville, United States Clay United States Asia Muhammad Russia Alexandra Panova
United States 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 Russia Yulia Putintseva 6–1, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-Up 2013 Wimbledon Grass  Switzerland  Belinda Bencic 6–4, 1–6, 4–6

Singles performance timeline

Tournament20112012201320142015W–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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Taylor Townsend.
Awards
Preceded by
Russia Irina Khromacheva
ITF Junior World Champion
2012
Succeeded by
Switzerland Belinda Bencic
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