By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, August 9, 2024
Taylor Townsend crushed Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-1 to reach her maiden WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Toronto and rise to a new career-high ranking.
Photo credit: Robert Prange/Getty
Wimbledon doubles champion Taylor Townsend is doing major rebranding in Toronto.
Townsend transformed lucky loser status into a launching pad rising to a couple of career breakthroughs.
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A sharp Townsend tore through seven of the last eight games crushing Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-1 to reach her first career WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Toronto today.
Townsend unleashed the shoulder pop celebration after one of her biggest singles wins.
The 28-year-old Townsend, who lost to Erika Andreeva 7-6(6), 6-4 in her final qualifying round match, has been revitalized in her second life as a lucky loser.
It took Townsend just one hour to dismantle 2017 Roland Garros champion Ostapenko. Townsend converted six of 11 break points and faced only three break points.
It was Townsend's second straight 60-minute win and vaults her to a new career-high ranking of No. 52 in the Live Rankings.
All this from a player who arrived to the York University site less than 10 minutes before her scheduled start-time and skipped her pre-match hit. It was a prelude to what Townsend called "a crazy day" in her on-court interview afterward.
"This was a crazy day. Let me tell you a story," Townsend said. "We were playing not before 12:30. I got here at 12:24. I don’t know how the hell I did it.
"Maybe it’s because I wasn’t thinking. I just came out and played. I didn’t hit a [practice] ball. I didn’t warn up. I literally did two bike sprints and I was like Okay let’s go. So I guess that worked."
Since her loss in qualifying, Townsend has not dropped a set, and has not been pushed beyond the one-hour mark, in three straight main-draw wins.
Next up for Townsend is eighth-seeded compatriot Emma Navarro with a semifinal spot on the line.
Navarro charged through eight straight games turning a 2-5 deficit into a 7-5, 7-5 victory over 11th-seeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.
World No. 15 Navarro continues her superb season with her second WTA 1000 quarterfinal appearance of the season following her run to the last eight in Indian Wells last March.
In their lone prior meeting, Townsend defeated Navarro 6-1, 6-4 at the 2019 Charleston.
The lucky loser aims to ride this winning wave as long as she can.
"I guess you just got to get lucky every once in a while, right?" Townsend said. "I think when you have an opportunity like the day I found out I was playing lucky loser I got here at 8:30 in the morning and I found out I was playing not before 5. So we were literally here all day.
"I had a 16-hour day on site. So honestly those type of days where you just go and play and have to figure things out I think it really works well for me.
"Not a lot of thinking just trusting the work I’ve put in and I’m really enjoying myself out here. So thank you everyone for supporting me. I’m having a great time I'm going to continue riding this wave."