“Every time that I step on the court, whether it’s singles or doubles or mixed doubles, whether it’s a Grand Slam or Challenger, I don’t take it for granted,” Taylor Townsend declared in 2023. This sentiment of dedication resonates deeply within the current landscape of American tennis. With a historic Top 5 trio of Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Madison Keys-first time in 20 years, and now Taylor Townsend’s triumphant doubles victory in Dubai, the American women are undeniably on the rise. This is extra special for Townsend!

Shortly after clinching the title at the 2025 AO, Townsend and Siniakova defeated the same opponents (Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko) by 7-6(5),6-4 at the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships. With this win, the pair have now secured their third team title(after triumphs at Wimbledon last year and in Melbourne last month) and their first as a team at a WTA 1000 event. 

The Dubai victory propelled Townsend to a new career-high ranking of No. 2 in WTA doubles, just behind her partner. Townsend now holds the distinction of being the highest-ranked American across all tennis disciplines. This surpasses the top American rankings in men’s singles (Taylor Fritz, No. 4), women’s singles (Coco Gauff, No. 3), and men’s doubles (Nathaniel Lammons, No. 20). After returning from maternity leave in 2022, the 28-year-old Townsend reached a ranking of No. 5 in both of the following years.

Shortly after accomplishing this extraordinary feat, Taylor Townsend shared a picture of herself and Katerina Siniakova with the trophy in hand. She also shared a screenshot of the current WTA doubles ranking. In that ranking, Siniakova is spotted sitting at the top with 10750 points, while Townsend is in second place with 8368 points. Townsend captioned that post with, “PROUD” 7 weeks⏳ 2 trophies 🏆 🏆 New career-high ranking ✌🏾📈 Lots of tears.. even more growth.” 

After seeing this post, her peers came out in numbers to congratulate her on her incredible win. The American tennis star, Ben Shelton, wrote, “Back and Forth 0:32.” Coco Gauff commented, “So proud 🔥❤️” and even the former world number one, Naomi Osaka dropped a “🔥” under that post. Jessica Pegula showcasing her joy in her compatriot’s incredible feat by saying, “We love to see it!” Ashlyn Krueger also poured love on that same post by dropping ‘heart’ emojis.

Taylor Townsend’s incredible comeback after giving birth to her son, Adyn in 2021 is truly remarkable. However, her journey to the top was never a bed of roses!

Taylor Townsend spoke about the transition in her game

Taylor Townsend‘s incredible hand-eye coordination and athleticism, right from a very young age, helped her become the first American junior player to finish the year as a world number one in 30 years. She had won several big titles after that and was even hailed as the next big thing in American tennis. However, later on, the USTA raised some concerns over fitness and they felt she wasn’t at the level to compete in the bigger stages of the game. They had even withheld her funding for traveling to a few competitions (like the US 18s nationals and the US Open).

Highlighting all of those moments, Townsend once said, “You have to kind of maneuver through those things. It’s been a long road. A lot of haters, a lot of people who weren’t sure. I’ve heard it for a really long time that I was never going to make it, that I wasn’t going to be able to break through or do this or do that.” Taylor Townsend was just 16 when she became the juniors number one, but then out of a sudden, she felt like someone was taking away the dream from her. 

Although Townsend received support from several tennis legends like Chris Evert, Lindsay Davenport, and a few others during certain points in her career, this moment was probably one of the lowest moments in her career. After that, her biggest challenge was to make a comeback after becoming a mother. However, interestingly, before becoming a mother, Taylor Townsend had never cracked the Top 60 in doubles, but ever since making her return, she has gone from strength to strength, climbing up the ladders every year. Is it some magic or something else?

Well, speaking on her incredible turnaround, Townsend said, “Motherhood has given me a different perspective, more so towards the game.” She even admitted, “I 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.”

Townsend has now started to believe in her abilities much more. With 9 doubles titles in her career, including 2 Grand Slam triumphs, can she dig deep and win yet another major title this season?