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Taylor Townsend is high on confidence following her 2023 Cincinnati Open doubles triumph.
Townsend partnered with Alycia Parks at the Western & Southern Open this year and caused many an upset en route to the title. They beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez 6-7(1), 6-4, [10-6] in one hour and 35 minutes in the final to claim the WTA 1000 title.
Despite joining forces with Parks for the first time on the WTA Tour, Townsend is confident that their partnership is one that brings the best out of her.
"From our first match, my hitting partner said, 'Watch them win the tournament'. I know the type of players that I play really well with and it's someone with a good serve and has great weapons from the baseline that can set me up at the net. So from the beginning, we realized that our games complemented each other very well. We get along off the court and on the court. It just flowed very well," she told WTA Insider.
Townsend is not new to playing big matches, having competed in the finals at Miami and Roland Garros alongside Leylah Fernandez. The pair, however, had to settle for runner-up trophies both times.
The 27-year-old believes that those two defeats have helped her in her time in Cincinnati, as she handled the occasion much better.
"It feels great to know that I can play with just about anybody and know that I can win no matter who's with me and who's on the other side of the net, because Alycia and I had a very tough draw," she said.
"It really doesn't matter who's on the other side of the net. I really know and I believe that I have whatever it takes to win these types of tournaments. I know everyone else sees it, but it's always good to get the trophy to put the stamp on it," she added.
“It's a very full circle moment for me” - Taylor Townsend on her Cincinnati Open doubles title
Taylor Townsend has called the Cincinnati Open triumph a 'full circle moment' for her.
Townsend hails from Chicago, which is the largest city in the state of Illinois and is less than 300 miles away from Cincinnati. She made the journey across state lines many times in her childhood to visit the tournament and catch the action.
Speaking after her Western & Southern Open title win, the 27-year-old shed light on how the tournament was special for her in her career.
“Thank you to Western and Southern. This is such an amazing event, you know, being from Chicago and this being one of the tournaments that I went to when I was younger. So it's a very full circle moment for me,” she said.
