By John Huston
It had been a gloomy Wednesday in Paris, with both Williams sisters losing, and news of the death of poet Maya Angelou dominating social media news feeds. But when the rains came, they were accompanied by some sunshine in the form of 18-year-old Taylor Townsend‘s 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over 20th seed Alize Cornet. Townsend’s win might not have brightened the Parisian home crowd’s day, but it gave American tennis—and inspired all-court, net-charging tennis—a ray of hope at a time when the future sometimes looks mighty bleak. Make no mistake: Taylor Townsend has arrived, right on time.
After the match, when IT informed the 2012 junior Aussie Open winner and former girls’ No. 1 that Andy Murray had tweeted, “How good is Taylor Townsend? #talent,” Townsend answered, “What’s up, Andy—I love your mom,” to much laughter. Pressed to answer Murray’s question, she said, “How good am I? Well, I don’t want to sound conceited and everything. But, I mean, I’m pretty darn good, I guess (laughter). I’m doing well. I’m just really happy that all my hard work is paying off, you know.”
Indeed, unlike less-successful young wild cards appointed by France’s and Australia’s tennis federations, Townsend earned her main draw spot at Roland Garros the hard way. In late April and early May, she claimed the American wild card by blazing through the Har-Tru Challenge, first winning five matches in one weekend to score singles and doubles titles at the Boyd Tinsley Clay Court Classic in Virginia, then winning four matches in one day to take the singles and doubles at the Audi Melbourne Pro Classic in Florida.
Now up to 12, Townsend’s ten-match winning streak going into the French had some lively moments. “Lord Jesus thank you for giving me the strength to not go South Side of Chicago on that girl,” the Southerner by way of the Windy City tweeted after a victory over hot-tempered Russian Anastasia Rodionova. She also fought off match points in the Audi Melbourne semis to clinch the wild card.
In the first round at Paris, Townsend overcame a 1-5 first-set deficit against Vania King, smacking 51 winners on her way to a 7-5, 6-1 win. The American teen’s match against the drama-loving Cornet was a roller coaster ride as well. Townsend came out confident and aggressive in the first set, blasting lefty forehand winners at will and giving thrilling glimpses of the improvisational net skills that have made her idol, fellow lefty Martina Navratilova, an admirer. The match seemed in her pocket at 4-1, 30-0 in the second, when a double-fault set off a walkabout that let Cornet—who has a deserved rep as a come-from-behind fighter—back into the match. The top-ranked Frenchwoman rallied the crowd and swept five games in a row to even things at a set apiece.
The third set began similarly to the second, and when Townsend double-faulted again at 4-1, 30-0 the possibility of a truly torturous version of Groundhog Day loomed. As a double-fault prone Cornet clawed out from 0-40 and triple-match point to hold to 2-5, the question began to form: Would the development of a young talent once again be altered by a crushing big-time loss?
But Townsend kept her composure throughout her main stage debut at a major, holding off another charge by Cornet and the increasingly boisterous French crowd at Suzanne Lenglen—where Serena had bowed out just two matches earlier—to finally serve out the match at 5-4. A kick second-serve at 30-30 in the final game proved key, drawing a forehand error. After converting on her fifth match point, Townsend busted out a quick version of the Atlanta-based pop dance the NaeNae, looking jubilantly up at her family and coach Zina Garrison.
The post-match presser wasted no time in getting Townsend’s perspective on a day that some might—perhaps too dramatically—view as a passing of the torch. IT started things off by asking, “If someone had said to you a week or so ago that in your first Slam you’re going to last longer than No. 1 Serena or Venus, what would you say?”
Townsend replied, “I would say, ‘That’s interesting.’ You know what? It’s good, but I have been preparing for these moments. These are the kinds of things that I have been working for every day, you know; putting in hours on the court, putting in hours in the gym, putting in hours off the court … These are the things that any young professional athlete is working for. I’m really fortunate that I took advantage of it today.”
Townsend’s French Open splash and her overall progress this spring provide a strong initial answer to oft-voiced doubts and concerns about her fitness. Back in 2012, the USTA denied her requests for a wild card into either the main draw or qualifying rounds of the US Open, and asked her to skip the junior tournament as well, because of displeasure about her conditioning. The 18-year-old has grown in height since then, but is still full-bodied in an era when most players are lean and gym-ripped. If she continues to build on her success, she’ll be challenging some stereotypes about both the body type and the style of play required for elite success in today’s game.
One senses that Townsend’s connection with Garrison has been key in allowing her to begin to forge her own path. In the face of adversity during today’s match, Townsend read from a notebook on changeovers and talked to herself between points. Afterward, she credited visualization as part of her winning game plan. Asked post-match whether Wimbledon runner-up and Olympic gold medalist Garrison is her tennis coach or life guide, Townsend said, “She’s both … I enjoy myself so much … It’s awesome working with her, just because it gives me such a great insight.
She made it to the quarters the first time she played the French Open, so she knows the feeling … She was No. 3 in the world, so she understands the game. She’s really helped me understand the mental side of things, and learning that part has made me a better person. I’ve always said that tennis was relative to life, but I didn’t know how to put them together, but now I see [that I can]. Things you do on the court, and the habits you have on the court, also carry off the court, as well.”
Next up for Townsend: a third-round face-off with Carla Suarez Navarro, or as she amusingly puts it, a match between “two red clay lovers.”
