“I just hope that Donald and I standing here today, Frances [Tiafoe] in the semifinals, Coco [Gauff] being the defending champion, just shows people that look like us that it’s possible,” Taylor Townsend said as she reached the finals of the US Open in mixed doubles. While Coco Gauff has been excelling on the singles front, Townsend is dominating the WTA Tour in doubles. Earlier today, the two crossed paths in Riyadh after fans made a hilarious mistake.

Both Gauff and Townsend are playing in the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia. Gauff qualified in the singles event whereas Townsend is partnering with Katerina Siniakova in doubles. Earlier today, Townsend received an unexpected surprise from fans, as they made a huge goof-up recognizing her and Gauff. Townsend took to her official Instagram handle and narrated the incident, saying, “Starting the day off with a bang guys. So I was outside of the hotel and people stop us saying, ‘You’re Coco’ and they stop Sam saying, ‘You’re Travis Scott'”

Strangely, this isn’t the first time when Townsend has faced such a situation. A few years ago as well, she revealed how people mistook her for Coco Gauff. “I’ve had people argue with me, to tell me that I’m Coco Gauff. All of us look the same, all of us are built the same. Everybody sees a black person and assumes that it’s Venus [Williams] or Serena [Williams] – I’ve been literally all of them, except for myself,” Townsend said.

Nonetheless, Townsend has earned wide praise for her exploits on the court this season. Former tennis star, Tracy Austin heaped massive praise on the tennis mom for her performances this year.

Tracy Austin gushes over Taylor Townsend’s season as she makes a big claim

Although Townsend has played both singles as well as doubles, it is the latter where she reaped major success this year. Townsend won as many as 3 doubles titles this season, including the Wimbledon Championships title. As a result, Austin was impressed with the American star’s performances in 2024.

She said, “This has really been a breakthrough year for her, and it must give her so much confidence knowing that she can do this. She can do these singles and doubles success simultaneously, and now bring it into the next season. It’s so wonderful. As an American, we watched Taylor be the number one Junior in the world, and we saw all her assets and her ability to finish points. The Wimbledon title made me cry. We were all at Wimbledon, and just to see her win a major there… the flood of emotions, it’s been wonderful.”

Continuing her impressive run, Townsend is undefeated at the ongoing WTA Finals, winning her first two group-stage matches. Can she finish her season on a high by winning the title in Riyadh? Let us know your views in the comments below.