"First successful relationship from DMs": Taylor Townsend reflects on partnership with Katerina Siniakova after Wimbledon semifinal win

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American tennis has a lot to celebrate this week, with Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys becoming the first trio of U.S. women to be ranked in the Top 5 at the same time since 2003.

But the celebration doesn’t end there.

Over on the WTA doubles rankings, another American—Taylor Townsend—makes a major move, rising to a new career-high of No. 2 after winning Dubai alongside current No. 1 Katerina Siniakova.

Before becoming a mom, Townsend never cracked the Top 60 in doubles, but since returning to the tour in 2022 she’s gone from strength to strength, reaching No. 31 that year, then going as high as No. 5 in the world during both the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

She rose from No. 5 to a new personal best of No. 3 after winning the Australian Open last month, also alongside Siniakova, and now—after their WTA 1000 triumph in Dubai—she moves up to No. 2.

And Townsend is now the highest-ranked American across all disciplines, with the highest in men’s singles being Taylor Fritz at No. 4, the highest in women’s singles being Gauff at No. 3, and the highest in men’s doubles being Nathaniel Lammons at No. 20.

Townsend and Siniakova have now won three titles together in the last year—two majors at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and now Dubai.

Townsend and Siniakova have now won three titles together in the last year—two majors at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and now Dubai.

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Speaking of Siniakova, it’s a double milestone week for the Czech.

First of all, Dubai was the 30th WTA doubles title of her career. Among the other 29 are an incredible 10 Grand Slam titles (seven with Barbora Krejcikova, one with Gauff and two with Townsend) and an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo (with Krejcikova).

Second of all, she kicks off her 140th career week at No. 1 today, becoming just the fourth player to reach that milestone.

Official WTA doubles rankings began on September 4th, 1984.

MOST CAREER WEEKS AS WTA NO. 1 IN DOUBLES:

  • 237: Martina Navratilova (USA)
  • 199: Liezel Huber (USA)
  • 163: Cara Black (ZIM)
  • 140: Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
  • 137: Lisa Raymond (USA)
  • 124: Natasha Zvereva (BLR)
  • 111: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (ESP)
  • 110: Roberta Vinci (ITA)
  • 91: Sania Mirza (IND)
  • 89: Martina Hingis (SUI)
Another one of Townsend's recent titles came with newly-minted Top 10 player Asia Muhammad in Washington D.C. last summer.

Another one of Townsend's recent titles came with newly-minted Top 10 player Asia Muhammad in Washington D.C. last summer.

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And last but certainly not least, there’s even more good news for American tennis, as Asia Muhammad makes her much-deserved Top 10 debut in doubles this week, rising from No. 12 to No. 10.

Muhammad has risen up the doubles rankings consistently over the last decade, breaking into the Top 100 in 2015, the Top 50 in 2016, the Top 40 in 2019 and the Top 30 in 2022, and in 2024—a season in which she captured three WTA doubles titles, including a WTA 1000 in Cincinnati with Erin Routliffe—she cracked the Top 20, going as high as No. 14 and finishing the year at No. 15.

And this week, the American breaks even more new ground.