Taylor Townsend, former “Little Mo” champion wins Aussie Open finals!

Age 9, Winner of 2005 “Little Mo” East Regionals

 
Congratulations, Taylor from the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation!
Taylor played the “Little Mo” circuit in 2005. She was the East Regional “Little Mo” champion and won 3rd place in the “Little Mo” Nationals. Way to go, Taylor! Keep up the good work.

Former “Little Mo” Champion, Taylor Townsend from Stockbridge, Georgia wins the Australian Open junior singles and doubles title at age 15.

Townsend played the most important match of her young tennis career at 15,000-seat Rod Laver Arena on Saturday. She defeated Yulia Putintseva of Russia 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Saturday to win the girls’ singles event at the Australian Open, a day after she and partner Gabrielle Andrews of Pomona, Calif., won the girls’ doubles title.

When she closed out her singles’ victory, Townsend burst into tears on court. “Tears of joy,” she said afterward. “It’s a dream come true for me, you know. A lot of people were supporting me, and my family and everything are just so proud. It was just a proud moment for me and … the feelings kind of rushed in.”

Townsend, who was discovered and initially coached by the parents of American player Donald Young (another former “Little Mo” Nationals champion in 2000), said she wouldn’t have made the trip “Down Under ” if she hadn’t been confident she could win the title, even though she’s a couple of years younger than many of the other competitors.

“That’s a belief that I had in myself, but, I mean, definitely when I got through the quarterfinals, I was like, ‘You have three more matches and you can win this.”