Coco Gauff, Madison Keys, Ben Shelton & others lead cheers as Taylor Townsend becomes doubles No. 1 for 1st time

Taylor Townsend achieved her personal best in terms of WTA rankings this week, ascending to the World No. 1 position in doubles by virtue of her campaign at the Citi DC Open. The American subsequently received congratulations from many of her top compatriots including Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton.

Townsend has turned her career around in the last few years in both singles and doubles. The 29-year-old peaked at 46th in the WTA singles rankings last year and also secured her maiden Major title in doubles partnering Katerina Siniakova at Wimbledon.

Since then, Taylor Townsend has gone one better by adding the 2025 Australian Open to her trophy cabinet. At this week's Citi DC Open in Washington, she joined forces with Zhang Shuai to reach the title match, which has ensured that she will replace her regular partner Siniakova to become the new World No. 1 in next week's WTA doubles rankings.

The nine-time tour-level doubles titlist's compatriots like Coco Gauff, Ben Shelton, Madison Keys, Shelby Rogers, and Christopher Eubanks rejoiced at her career-best achievement later on Friday (July 25) on their Instagram stories.

Gauff, in particular, called Townsend "TT1" in the caption of her story. The two-time singles Major winner also added a queen's crown emoji to accentuate the latter's feat.

"@taylortownsend TT1 👑," Coco Gauff wrote on her Instagram stories while reposting WTA's congratulatory post about Taylor Townsend.

Doubles No. 1 Townsend also enjoyed a successful singles campaign in Washington, making it to the last eight of a WTA singles tournament for the first time since last year's Canadian Open.

Taylor Townsend has compiled a 12-11 win/loss record on WTA Tour in singles in 2024

Taylor Townsend has won 12 of her 23 singles matches on the WTA Tour this year, with her most recent two wins having come at the 2025 Citi DC Open. The highlights of the American's season also include reaching the Round of 32 at the Miami Open in March.

In Washington, the 29-year-old didn't drop a set in her two qualifying victories before downing Queen's Club champion Tatjana Maria 6-4, 7-5 in the first round. She then sprang a 6-3, 6-0 upset over sixth-seeded Sofia Kenin in the Round of 16 before falling 4-6, 6-7(4) to Leylah Fernandez in her next match.

Townsend will now be hopeful of another good run at the Canadian Open next month, where she reached the quarterfinals against all odds in 2024. A consistent set of results will bode well for her leading up to the US Open - the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.

About the author

Rudra is a seasoned tennis journalist at Sportskeeda who has followed the sport for over a decade. Whether it's breaking news or tactically analyzing a match, he thrives in reporting it. When he isn't working, he's probably spending time with friends or watching art films. He has also played tennis for over eight years and his favourite tennis player of all time is Rafael Nadal.

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Edited by Pritha Ghosh