It was a third time lucky for Taylor Townsend at Wimbledon this year. After heartbreak in the 2022 US Open final and the 2023 French Open final, the American teamed up with Katerina Siniakova, and in only their 10th match together, they won the doubles title at SW19 three weeks ago. Although that maiden Grand Slam helped propel her doubles ranking, making her the highest-ranked American, Townsend hasn’t had the same success in singles, forcing her to go through qualifying rounds in bigger tournaments. It doesn’t work out all the time, and that’s what happened at the Canadian Open.

An update recently emerged from Toronto. The WTA 1000 event, which was scheduled to begin today, marked the exit of Yulia Putintseva, with the Kazakh withdrawing from the tournament as she’s still recovering from the knee injury that made her pull out of the Olympics. As a result, Taylor Townsend got a second chance in Toronto after being named a lucky loser to fill Putintseva’s spot in the main draw. Although she faced a defeat against Erika Andreeva in the second round of qualifying, she will be competing in the Round of 64.

Also known as the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, the WTA Toronto started unleashing the action on August 5 at Sobeys Stadium. While the event has a massive importance in terms of prize money as well as ranking points, Taylor Townsend was determined to chase it down. She recently shared her frustration on Instagram about her difficult journey to the tournament.

The WTA star flew early in the morning to Toronto and had to wait for hours before she could play her qualifying match. She wrote, “I’m tired of this shit. Played yesterday, I flew this morning, I’ve been up like since 4:00 am, packed my stuff and AG’s stuff, flew from DC to Toronto.”

Townsend went straight from the airport to the tournament site right after landing in the city of Mary. She had an hour and a half to practice but had to wait for her match due to other long matches on her court. “Then I had to wait and go to court almost like 7:00. Played and won, and I just literally got to my room,” the 28-year-old added.

Despite her fatigue and the long wait, she tried her best to pose a challenge against her rival in the qualifying match. Although she ended up facing a defeat, the exit of Putintseva came as a blessing for her. This blend of luck and determination is probably the reason why Townsend thinks that she is finally headed in the right direction.

Taylor Townsend explains how things have finally “started to fall in place” for her

Starting her campaign with the qualifying rounds in Miami, Taylor Towsend secured four consecutive victories before Elena Rybakina hindered her momentum. While the campaign brought satisfaction to her form back then, she explained how all these efforts have finally started to pay her back. “I just feel incredibly prepared. I’ve been working really hard,” Townsend said in an interview with Prakash Amritraj.

The WTA star also explained how a combination of efforts and manifestation is her new formula to rise back up. “Sometimes the work shows and manifests itself in matches, maybe for a set or a couple of games. I feel like now that I’ve been playing some weeks in a row, matches in a row, things have started to fall in place. The things I have been working on and training for months are finally coming to fruition on the court,” she added.

The American had to take some time off from the Tour when she gave birth to her son, Adyn Aubrey Allen. A single mom, Townsend has often spoken about her struggles to maintain a successful professional as well as personal life. But the wait is at an end.

Townsend is finally in the main draw of another WTA 1000 event in the ongoing season. As she looks forward to a showdown against Dayana Yastremska, it still remains to be seen if she will be able to make the best out of this opportunity she received because of a bit of glittering luck.