How the long game paid off for new doubles No. 1 and Washington champ Townsend | Taylor Townsend …

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How the long game paid off for new doubles No. 1 and Washington champ Townsend

Thirteen years after her breakout as a junior champion, Taylor Townsend’s path through criticism, setbacks, and reinvention has brought her to the top of the doubles rankings.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Taylor Townsend was never given the luxury of a quiet rise. In 2012, at the age of 16, she was the junior world No. 1, an Australian Open champion and a Wimbledon doubles winner. But the praise quickly gave way to judgment.

She was the “it” girl of her tennis generation — until she wasn’t.

Townsend, who didn’t have the lean, sculpted look of so many other elite junior players, was barred from competing in the junior US Open and sent to its training center in Florida to focus on improving her fitness. Eventually, her USTA funding and support was revoked.

Ben Shelton Advances to Citi DC Open Semifinals

Taylor Townsend has reached the summit of women’s doubles tennis, claiming the World No. 1 ranking after advancing to the final at the 2025 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington. The American tennis star secured the points needed when she and partner Zhang Shuai moved into the doubles final, benefiting from Emma Raducanu and Elena Rybakina’s retirement in their semifinal match. How Did Fellow American Stars Celebrate Tayloe Townsend’s Historic Achievement? The milestone moment arrived when opponents Raducanu and Rybakina chose to retire while trailing 4-1 in the first set of their semifinal encounter. Both players had singles semifinal matches scheduled for the following day and decided to conserve their energy for those crucial contests. View this post on Instagram A post shared by WTA (@wta) Coco Gauff immediately took to Instagram to celebrate her compatriot’s success, tagging Townsend with “TT1” followed by a crown emoji. This reaction continues Gauff’s pattern of supporting Townsend throughout her career, including previous celebrations of her Grand Slam victories. Coco Gauff’s Instagram story celebrating Taylor Townsend’s Achievement Meanwhile, Ben Shelton, who partners with Townsend in mixed doubles at the US Open, shared the official WTA post celebrating her achievement. Shelton has repeatedly praised Townsend

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