Taylor Townsend Is in Her “Brick Laying” Era as She Gears Up for Indian Wells
American tennis player Taylor Townsend is having a very strong start to her 2025 season—in doubles, that is.
Townsend, 28, won the Australian Open doubles title with Kateřina Siniaková, her second major doubles title (her first was Wimbledon last year, also with Siniaková). They just won the Dubai Open, their third title as a duo and their first WTA 1000 tournament together. The win catapulted Townsend to a career high no. 2 doubles ranking, right behind Siniaková, no. 1 in the world in doubles.
Though her doubles game has continued to be strong, Townsend’s singles game hasn’t seen the same successes. “Obviously I’ve been struggling with singles,” she tells T&C over the phone from California. “Mentally, it’s been an interesting shift between the success and the highs that I’m experiencing in doubles, but then the lows that I’m experiencing in singles, and being able to balance and manage those things. But that’s sport, and I’m enjoying the ride. It’s not fun… but I’m enjoying the ride.”
Ahead of Indian Wells 2025 (also known as the BNP Paribas Open), Townsend spoke with T&C about her season so far, balancing motherhood and the challenges of being a professional athlete, and what’s it like playing in front of American crowd.
To start, congratulations on reaching world number two in doubles. How does it feel?
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it feels amazing. It's really interesting because I was [recently] on the phone with someone, they were like, “Do you remember when you were younger, you said you wanted to see a doubles champion?” I was like, “I didn't, but now I do!” It’s a cool situation to be in, where I’m chasing my partner at this point. When I was setting my goals for this year, I was like, “I want to be number one.” It’s tough when you're playing with the person who’s number one, they keep getting points and you keep getting points—but all I can do is just kind of close the gap and make it tighter. But it’s really cool, I’m super proud of myself. It is early and we still got a lot more to do.
What did it mean to start off your season with the Australian Open win?
It’s really surreal. I won the juniors in singles and doubles [in Australia] in 2012, and that was the kickstart for my professional career. And even me believing and seeing that that was a possibility for me to play on this level, that was the turning point for me to be like, “Okay, I might be good at this tennis thing.” It was a full circle moment, honestly—I played my singles final on Rod Laver and being able to play in the women’s double final on Rod Laver. It was amazing.
How do you navigate that gap between your doubles and singles performance?
It’s funny because success is very relative and it’s very subjective. At the end of the day, I’m still 81 in the world [in singles] which is still incredible. Sometimes things can get a little bit overshadowed by you doing so well in one aspect, but I’m just not getting comparable results, and it’s easy to compare.
For me, it’s more a self-expectation of knowing that I can do and perform and be a lot better [in singles] and not really fulfilling how I feel like I should be playing on court. I just continue to go back to the drawing board and saying, “Okay, what do I need to do?” There was a time when I felt like, man, I don't know if maybe I should just go home. I don’t want to do this. I am burnt out. But, I didn’t believe that in my heart. I knew I would feel like I’m giving up and that’s not an option. So I just keep pushing through.
What makes you keep going? What pushes you every day to keep playing, to keep striving?
I’m a very self-motivated person and I’m a doer. I like to do, and I like to check boxes. Outside of myself, I don't want to say the cliché answer, but I am doing it for my son as well, to be able to come to him and say, “Hey, babe, we get to have two trophy parties. I'm coming back with two trophies!” He's like, “Wow, that's so cool!” While I was in Dubai, he was sick, and I sent him a video when he was at the doctor. I said, “Hey, I’m bringing this trophy back” His dad showed [it] to him, he’s smiling so big…Those types of things where it cheers him up. And the trophy party that we had from Wimbledon, it was so special and he remembers it. So those are types of the moments that really matter to me.
How do you navigate when he’s with you on tour and when he stays home?
He stays home the majority of the time. He was supposed to be coming to Indian Wells, but him and his caretaker got under the weather and mom mode was just like, I’m not comfortable with you guys flying and changing climates when you’re not 100 percent. So even though I wanted him to come so bad, and I was so excited… I kept telling him yesterday, I was like, “Adyn, I’m so sad. I don't want to leave you yet.” He was like, “It’s okay, mom! I wanted to go to California, but we'll just go to Florida together!”
It’s difficult, but I understand how difficult this life is for us as adults: the travel, the time changes, constantly living out of a suitcase, eating out every night. For me, personally, that’s not the experience that I want my son to have at this age. When he’s older and he’s able to maneuver easier, I feel like it’ll be better. But right now it’s such a young age. It’s really important for them to have routine—having a schedule is really important, and tennis is everything but that. I make that sacrifice; I would love for him to travel, but especially with all the places that we go, and how far [we travel], I’m not going to put a three-year-old on a 15 hour flight.
Those are the types of things that I have to coach myself through, but then [motherhood] is also something that I pull from and I tell myself: This is why when I go to these places, I really have to make it count because I’d be damned if I’m going to go and waste my time. That is another thing that I struggle with, with my singles, I was like, “Damn, I’m over here wasting time!” In retrospect, [I] won a Grand Slam and won a Masters 1000, okay. But I know that I can do so much more and so much better for myself when I’m out there. So it just a really interesting mental battle that I’m dealing with. I’m excited to be going into Indian Wells; it’s just another opportunity.
What’s your mindset going into Indian Wells?
I always look forward to coming to this event. It’s always super fun. They do such a great job. It’s a beautiful place—it helps you relax and exhale, it’s just so scenic. But for me, it’s another opportunity for me to go out and compete and work on the things that I’ve been working on. Whether I get the result that I want at that time or not, my goal right now is to just keep laying bricks and continue. My coach says, “Pound the stone, because you keep hitting it eventually, something’s going to crack. You don’t know when, you don’t know where, you don’t know how big, but something’s going to happen.” For me, that’s the mindset that I have. I’m detaching from results and just saying, hey, I'm just going to focus on the process of me playing my best tennis, whatever that looks like that day.
What’s it like to be playing in front of American crowds, especially on this Sunshine Double in Indian Wells then Miami?
It’s so fun! It’s really fun, because the vibes are so different in both places too. We go to Palm Springs, where it’s a little bit older—it’s chill, but you get the support. But then you go to Miami where it’s rowdy and loud and fast paced; so many things going on within the city, on site [at the tournament]. So it’s just completely different energies, but I really enjoy both of them separately in their own ways.
Here in Indian Wells, you get to go to the mountains and it’s more desert, and then obviously in Florida you can go to the beach and relax and chill. It’s just completely different vibes. But I enjoy it, and I enjoy being able to pull from my fan base in the U.S., because we play 90% [of our matches] internationally. So it’s to be able to have the home crowd.
Is there a home crowd advantage in tennis? Does that exist?
I think so, but it’s what you do with it. You can have people that are pulling for you and everything, but then in the same regard, you have to be able to manage that. It can sometimes cause extra pressure because you want to perform, or you ride that and it gives you momentum to put on a show, essentially. I’ve found that it excites me, and I enjoy it.
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