Taylor Townsend etched her name in the record books this week, officially becoming the 50th player to reach WTA doubles world No.1.
The American only needed to reach the semifinals in Washington, D.C. to overtake regular doubles partner Katerina Siniakova atop the rankings. Instead, Townsend rocketed to her third doubles title of 2025 alongside first-time partner Zhang Shuai, adding to her Australian Open and Dubai 1000 triumphs.
Townsend also excelled in singles competition on home soil, advancing to the quarterfinals after recording wins over Tatjana Maria and Sofia Kenin.
“It’s super special for me,” she said after winning back-to-back Washington Open doubles titles. “Being able to clinch the No.1 doubles spot in the world and then come back and get the trophy again today in the fashion that we did – being able to play at the quality and level we played – I hold it near and dear to my heart.”
Storm Hunter is one of the other 49 players to become WTA doubles world No.1. Like Townsend, the Australian achieved the feat by advancing to the semifinals of a tournament, doing so at the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun.
As a guest on The Tennis podcast this week, Hunter discussed the unpredictable nature of new world No.1s emerging.
“Tennis is such a unique sport – the rankings are based on a 52-week cycle, so your points from each tournament last a full year. At any moment, someone could become the new world number one,” said Hunter, who held the No.1 doubles ranking for 12 weeks.
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“She said publicly that she went to D.C. with the mission to become world No.1, which I thought was pretty cool. It just shows how much achieving that goal and that dream meant to her.
“It’s something that no one can ever take away from you… and even to this day, I sometimes pinch myself and think, ‘Wow, I can’t believe at one point I was literally the best in the world at what I do.’”
Alongside Hunter, Townsend joins the likes of Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, and Sam Stosur in achieving world No.1 status. However, Townsend stands alone as the only player to do so as a mother.
The 29-year-old gave birth to her son, Adyn, in March 2021 and returned to the court in April 2022. Since then, she has won a combined 13 titles across singles and doubles competition and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No.46 in August 2024.
“This has honestly been a dream come true on so many levels, and for [Adyn] to be here – I tell him all the time, even after Wimbledon last year when I left, I said, ‘I’m going to bring you back a trophy,’” Townsend said. “I’ve envisioned having moments like that since he was born. I didn’t know when, how, or where it would happen – but I dreamt of it. It’s very special to me.”
Hunter added: “She’s spoken very publicly about how much strength and motivation he gives her – that she’s doing this for him. For her to achieve that ranking in D.C., with her friends, family, and Adyn there, it was just a magical moment.
“She’s such a hard worker. That’s something I’ve noticed on tour – she’s always out on the court trying to get better in singles and doubles.
“I always loved watching her play. Don’t necessarily love competing against her – she makes it very difficult on court.”
Taylor Townsend isn’t the only American flying the flag in preparation for the US Open later this month.
Six American women are still in contention at the WTA 1000 tournament currently underway in Montreal. World No.32 McCartney Kessler joins Coco Gauff in the fourth round after she upset No.4 seed Mirra Andreeva on Thursday (local time).
Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Amanda Anisimova, and Caty McNally seek to reach the final 16 on Friday.
In Toronto, Alex Michelsen and Learner Tien are through to the fourth round, while Frances Tiafoe, Brandon Nakashima, and Ben Shelton have the chance to join them.
It follows a strong campaign for American men in Washington, where Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, and Brandon Nakashima all advanced to the quarterfinals.