TT
Stockbridge Georgia Southpaw Taylor Townsend is roaring down under, earning her first grand slam swag with a Girl’s Doubles trophy in Melbourne earlier today after grabbing a spot in the Girl’s Singles final. Townsend and Gabrielle Andrews, a Pomona, CA native and former Winter 18s champion, took out the top-seeded pair of Irina Khromacheva and Danka Kovinic in a third set super tiebreak, 10-8.
Did we mention that she took the Girl’s Doubles title just a couple of hours after reaching the Singles final? In this case, she bested former Orange Bowl champion Krista Hardebeck 7-6(3) 6-4.
While she came into the event ranked #428 in singles and #233 in doubles, we now believe that Williams Sisters Superdad Richard Williams is a sage for the ages. After watching Townsend in US Open qualifying, he told the New York Times five months ago that “if you just give her a few years, she’ll be beating a hell of a lot of people.” Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of time. We need her now, and she’s delivering.
The #14 seed, Townsend will face #4 Yulia Putintseva in tonight’s Girl’s Singles final. Putintseva is Paris-trained by Martina Hingis. The match will be played at 9 p.m. EST on Rod Laver Arena.
The future is bright, TT. Thanks for giving the USA a reason to cheer for our own on this exciting final weekend of the Australian Open.
Tennis Atlantic 
Haha, Jankovic’s voice is irritating to me. It’s whiny. And yeah, mdeacil timeouts and tantrums are part of every match. Ain’t complete without ’em.I remember the almost 8-minute timeout she had in Garros for her arm. Went on to win the match in straight sets. Pfft. I’m actually happy that Dinara is kicking her ass twice in a row now.As for the cute/pretty thing — well, tennis has a reputation of being a “pretty sport”. I mean, more oft than not, the players look attractive. SOME fans become fans because the player is “hot, cute, handsome, pretty” and NOT because of their game. (Stupid, I know.) It just so happens that it affects the women more than the men; if you’re pretty, I don’t care if you’re not good as long as you’re easy on the eyes. Aside from the already mentioned, do you know of other players like that in the WTA?The ATP simply has a higher quality of tennis talent than the WTA, methinks. Pretty boys get fans because they are pretty but they also have a workable game. Feliciano Lopez can make you stop and stare (whether you are a man or a woman). He’s no Nadal in the level of play but QFs in Wimbledon, taking a set off Federer, Roddick in some of their matches, and having a nice serve — he’s far from being a pushover. Speaking of Feds and Rafa, their staying power at the top of the sport is merely a dream for WTA. Post-Hingis, nobody dominated women’s tennis. Justine did, but still she was shaky at times.Let me just go back to American tennis. My friend mentioned that there is nothing wrong in the training and such of tennis in the US. It’s just that the players (juniors and professionals alike) fail to deliver. And if they do, they are pushed into the shadows of past champions. Look at Blake and Mardy Fish. One mention of them and you HAVE to mention Andy Roddick even if the article has nothing to do with Roddick.
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