ROME/WASHINGTON, May 13, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)

On Thursday, qualifier Taylor Townsend secured her second career Top-10 triumph with a three-set, second-round victory over World No. 3 and fellow American Jessica Pegula at the WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The two friends shared a very warm embrace at the net after Townsend triumphed 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to move into Saturday’s third round against No. 75 Wang Xiyu of China.

In a matter of an hour and 55 minutes on the Grandstand court, the 168th-ranked Townsend garnered her fourth win of the week – two in qualifying (over Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden and Dalma Galfi of Hungary) and two in the main draw (starting with Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium and continuing with Pegula) – in her Rome debut. The lefty with a powerful two-fisted backhand has relied upon an aggressive all-court game that showcases her strengths, namely her forehand, slice and net game. Now, she has a chance to reach her first WTA 1000 fourth round if she beats Wang.

While the 27-year-old, Chicago-born Townsend is appearing in her 14th career WTA 1000 event in the Italian capital city, she’s only reached the third round once, at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Your daily dose of upset is served 🍽️

🇺🇸 @TaylorTownsend moves past seed No. 3, her compatriot Jessica Pegula, with a three set victory!#IBI23pic.twitter.com/Jcvxc5Zpvh

— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 11, 2023

After trailing 2-0, Townsend spun together seven straight winning games to go up a set and a break over Pegula. Then, at the outset of the final set – in which she raced to a 3-0 lead – she won 14 of 15 points and never looked back. It was her fourth main-draw victory in seven matches this season.

Afterward, during a sit-down interview with Tennis Channel‘s Prakash Amritraj, Townsend said: “It was 100 percent mental for me. I knew I didn’t have anything to lose. Jess is a three seed here; she’s been playing really well. I just felt super prepared.

“I tried to stay as free as possible and have a lot of fun out there – and I did.

“As the match went on, I started to believe more and more and more, and I just really carried that momentum throughout the match.”

Since beginning her comeback after giving birth to her son, Adyn Aubrey, on March 14, 2021, Townsend, a resident of Smyrna, Ga., has put in many hours of hard work with little fanfare, often toiling away on the ITF World Tennis Tour circuit – trusting the training, trust the things she’s been working on, trusting the hours that she put in on and off the court. She just wanted to 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,” Townsend said.

Bring your child to work day @TennisChannel 😍🥳 pic.twitter.com/K1DI2tNcUn

— Taylor Townsend (@TaylorTownsend) October 15, 2022

Last year, Townsend won two ITF events, at Charleston, S.C., on clay in April, and Tyler, Texas, on a hard court in October.

An accomplished doubles player, Townsend has risen to World No. 6 after teaming with fellow North American lefty Leylah Fernandez of Canada. They reached the final at Miami and followed it with a quarterfinal finish at Charleston. Last week, they reached the semifinals before losing a match tie-break to eventual champions Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil. Last fall, Townsend teamed with American Caty McNally to reach the US Open final before losing to Czech stars Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

Townsend has also scored high marks serving as a commentator and analyst on Tennis Channel. Has it helped her to become a better player? “For sure, the past two years doing Tennis Channel has been an indescribable experience,” Townsend told Amritraj on Thursday after beating Pegula. “I had to take myself out of a player’s mindset and put it into an analyst. So, I can’t put myself in it. As a player, you want to say, ‘I would have done this, or I would have done that.’

analyzing her way to victory 👩‍💻📊@TaylorTownsend | #IBI23 pic.twitter.com/D1UeRneIYe

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) May 11, 2023

“You have to pull yourself out of it and look at what is happening, what pattern or strategy is being implemented. It really allowed me while I was away from the game to see it in a different way. Once I was doing that and having to talk about it, it seared in my mind. I started seeing consistent patterns that the best players were doing. Seeing that and being able to go back to my team and my coaches and talk about what I saw, we were able to implement it because there was no secret. Everybody was kind of doing the same thing and it was working. We went back to the drawing board to see what the best players in the world were doing and how could I apply that to my game.”

Townsend’s post-match press conference following her victory over Pegula allowed her time to reflect on her new-found success. She said:

“Just to think that I’ve been aback on tour for 13 months, and to be here and to think about the leaps and the bounds that I’ve taken just to get here, it hasn’t been easy,” Townsend said. “It’s been very, very challenging. Some of the hardest – the hardest work I’ve ever done in my life honestly. But these types of moments really make it worth it.

Taylor Townsend (photo: Brigitte Urban)

“More than anything, it was more so of just believing. Seeing that it happened and then believing and understanding and knowing, like, I really, truly belong here. It’s not an accident, not a fluke, not a one off. I really, I truly believe this is the level I displayed in this match from start to finish. Again, Jess has really been so consistent and so, so good over basically the past two years. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her and the evolution and climb that she’s made in her career, to not only get here but to stay. That’s the hardest part, that’s the tough part about this sport, you can have a great year. If you don’t do the same or better, you drop off.

“To be able to maintain this level year in and year out is really something admirable.”

By the numbers

Taylor Townsend entered Thursday’s tussle against Jessica Pegula with a winning head-to-head record (2-1). However, they had not played each other in three years and only once at WTA Tour-level, at the 2020 Australian Open. Their other two meetings came in ITF World Tennis Tour events in 2013 and 2017. Townsend’s first career Top-10 win came against then No. 4 Simona Halep at the 2019 US Open.

“Quotable …”

“I’m just really proud of myself. I’ve been working really hard over the past couple of years to come back. Moments like these are what it’s all about. Two years ago, a year ago, when I started back in April, I had these types of moments where I wanted to be in these types of situations.

“To be here and to be able to come through and play the way I did, it really means a lot.”

– Taylor Townsend of the United States, ranked 168th in singles, who upset World No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the second round of the WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, during her post-match press conference.