By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday May 11, 2023
The American notched her biggest career win by ranking with a definitive takedown of the World No.3.
Photo Source: Getty
Taylor Townsend’s comeback and second career as a mother has been on track for about a year, but it gained some key traction on Thursday at the Foro Italico in Rome.
The 27-year-old American notched her biggest career win by ranking, defeating World No.3 Jessica Pegula 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 for first victory over a Top 10 player since she took down then fourth-ranked Simona Halep at the 2019 US Open.
Towsend, the WTA’s sixth-ranked doubles player, is in at 168 in the rankings this week, but will already jump to 131 based on her two main draw wins (from qualifying) at Rome. She will face China’s Wang Xiyu in the third round.
The former World No.61 improves to 3-1 lifetime over Pegula and told Tennis Channel that the victory was a mental triumph.
“It was 100 percent mental for me. I knew that I didn't have anything to lose,” Townsend said. “Jess is a three seed here – she's been playing really well.
“I just felt super prepared. My coach and I were just talking before the match and he was just like ‘You just have to trust the training, trust the things that you've been working on, trust the hours that you put in on and off the court, and just go play.’ And that's what I did and I just tried to stay as free as possible and just really have a lot of fun out there and I did and as the match went on, I started to believe more and more and more and I just carried that momentum throughout the match.”
There were dominant stretches from Townsend during the contest. She reeled off six straight games from 2-1 down in the opener, and in the final set, after Pegula had rallied to force a decider, she dropped just five points on serve and never faced a break point.
She was asked what it felt like to be in such a zone.
“Honestly, it feels like things are moving in slow motion,” she said. “I felt like I was in complete control of what was happening on my side of the court. So that's kind of indescribable.
“I felt like I was just 100 percent in control of what I was doing. And I was super clear on what I was trying to do, no matter if I won the point or lost the point. I was just like: ‘Move on. Next one,’ and I didn't think about what happened before and I wasn't thinking about what was happening, or what could happen. I was just really just trying to stay present as much as I could.”
Pegula has been one of the most consistent forces on the WTA Tour in recent years. She suffered a rare loss to a player outside of the Top 100 – the American has won 20 of 22 against players ranked higher than 100 since 2021.
She drops to 25-9 on the season and 6-3 on clay.