Taylor Townsend‘s name is echoing in the Cincinnati Open. After her eccentric performance in Toronto, this American WTA star is reaching new heights in another WTA 1000. While she is already a household name in doubles, Townsend is making it big in singles this time. Reaching a new career milestone, she drops a big promise ahead of the US Open showing her hunger for more. Will she make it?

Townsend defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 yesterday at the Round of 32 in Cincinnati. Today she is waiting to try her luck in the Round of 16. She reached the WTA top 51 rank on 12th August, when she defeated Chloe Paquet in the Cincinnati qualifiers. Today she reached a live rank of 46, fulfilling one of her life’s biggest dreams. A champion in doubles, Townsend’s new career high rank speaks volumes of her hard work. In a conversation with Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj, the WTA star delves deeper into this new achievement.

“I set that goal to get inside of the top 50, and my coach actually reminded me my goal was top 20 by US Open. So, I was shooting high and I was inside the top 50 in my ranking, and my ranking drops like close to 80 because I lost points from Rome. So, I had to get those back but yay I am so excited, yay I am so proud. But we are not done yet,” said Townsend.

This American player’s statement showcases her zeal to establish her identity in the singles. Not just in Cincinnati, Townsend also displayed great potential when she reached the Canadian Open’s quarterfinals. This was her first time advancing to the last eight in any WTA singles.

Townsend might be fabulous in doubles but she has been trying to improve her singles run for long. She defeated former world no 4 Simona Halep in the 2019 US Open second round.

She performed well against Sorana Cirstea to reach the last 16 in the 2019 US Open, which is her best Grand Slam result in women’s singles. However, her performance at last year’s US Open against Beatriz Haddad Maia held a greater significance in singles and Townsend herself has spoken about it.

Taylor Townsend believes she is a “top player“

Townsend’s victory against Haddad Maia brought her to the third round of any major since the 2019 US Open. In fact, it was also her first time progressing so well as a mother. After her victory, Townsend reflected great confidence and motivation when she said, “Motherhood has given me a different perspective, more so towards the game, really have fallen back in love not only with the sport, but with the process. For the longest time I was like, ‘I know I can, I know I can, I know I can’. But really now I truly believe, like, I’m a top player.”

This American WTA star has been vocal about her zeal to reach more career-high WTA rankings in the future. “Being able to have matches like these and days like these, it shows me that I’m there. I’ve continued to say to myself, to my team, it’s going to happen … I feel this in my gut and I know.” Townsend’s recent performance is a testament to her hard work.

Despite earning her first Grand Slam in doubles with Katerina Siniakova in Wimbledon, Townsend didn’t give up. She worked hard in her singles run and showed extraordinary improvement. Following her new career-high WTA rank, it seems that Townsend might leave the tennis world surprised with her Cincinnati Open performance. Do you think she has a good chance in the upcoming US Open?