Taylor Townsend made tennis history at the D.C. Open over the weekend. The 29-year-old became the first mother in women’s tennis to earn the WTA World No. 1 doubles ranking.
Her rise to the top became official when she and partner Shuai Zhang advanced to the final at the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington. “This is the most satisfying journey that I think I could ever have had,” Townsend said during her post-match press conference.
“Being able to attain the No. 1 after having my son and, you know, like, going through trials and tribulations and being able to even have the results of being a two-time Grand Slam champion, winning Masters 1000s, and accomplishing things that I had never accomplished before having my son, like, I think that makes it the most amazing.”
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Returning to elite tennis after having her son in 2021 was challenging, considering she had to juggle motherhood duties and the game. But she was determined to make it, and she did.
“These last four years have been — really three, because 2022 when I came back, I didn’t play a full season,” she explained. “So, you know, this is my third full season back on tour since having AJ, and so to be able to accomplish this in three years is honestly phenomenal.”
This latest achievement makes Townsend the 50th player to reach No. 1 in WTA doubles rankings history, since they began on September 10, 1984. She also becomes the 13th American player to achieve the feat after Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Gigi Fernandez, Lindsay Davenport, Corina Morariu, Lisa Raymond, Liezel Huber, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, according to Tennis.com.
“It feels like a dream and is without a doubt one of the highlights of my career,” Townsend told the WTA. “I loved watching doubles, especially Martina Navratilova play, and it’s an incredible honor to join the list of amazing players to have earned the No.1 ranking.”
Townsend has indeed made waves in the game over the past 12 months. Besides winning last year’s DC Open title with Asia Muhammad, she also grabbed the Australian Open doubles championship with Siniakova. The tennis player and mother also won at the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Additionally, she and Siniakova reached the title match at the WTA Finals Riyadh.
Tennis stars and fans have since congratulated Townsend on her achievement. “It’s super cool,” said Coco Gauff. “I’ve known Taylor for a long, long time and I always root for her. I was really happy to see her and I’ve always considered her one of the best doubles players — right there with [Katerina] Siniakova. It’s great to see that ranking kind of match where a lot of key players really see her as. She deserves it all.”
At 19, Chicago-born Townsend became the number one ranked junior in 2012 and won both the singles and doubles titles at the Australian Open junior tournament.
