Taylor Townsend: Type A personality with a strong comeback
Taylor Townsend (WTA No. 316) made her comeback after maternity leave this spring - and also started successfully in San Jose.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Aug 03, 2022, 09:17 am
After qualifying, the 26-year-old also won her first round match against Storm Sanders 6-1, 6-4 on Monday - after an extremely appealing performance.
Townsend, formerly number 1 in junior women's division, gave birth to their son Adyn last April. And planned her way to the comeback directly, as she revealed to the WTA. No "success plan", but when she started her comeback, her goal was "to be ready to win as soon as I set foot on the court again."
With success: Townsend had reached two quarterfinals at ITF tournaments immediately after her return, and she won the third. And in doubles: she reached the semifinals of the French Open with Madison Keys.
She was "a type A personality" and planned accordingly early - but then noticed that there were still seven months until the birth. Which, contrary to her plan, went through with a caesarean section. Then she devoted herself wholeheartedly to her new job as a mother, "for six months I was with him almost all day, every day", after which she slowly began to let go of something. "It was pretty tough at first, but also something I needed." According to Townsend, Adyn is on the US tour and will come to Cincinnati and the US Open.
She herself is now playing "more mature tennis", she thinks, "tactically smarter, I am more aware of what is happening on the court". She also changed a few things technically, for example in terms of serve, she changed the racket (from Dunlop to Yonex). So far with success!
Townsend meets eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina in San Jose on Wednesday.