I remember all the talk about Taylor Townsend, who was the number one ranked junior player in 2012. She also won the junior Australian Open title in 2012 and many expected big things from the American.

Townsend turned professional in November 2012 when she was still only 16 years old. Early in her profession, Townsend was coached by Donald Young Sr. Then she was coached by Zina Garrison and Kamau Murray from age 14; however, since 2015 she is back working with Donald Young Sr.

Townsend got to a career high ranking of 61 in July 2018; however, she did not progress forward as many expected. Instead, she ended last season ranked seventy-four and is currently ranked eighty-three. While the American continues to do well on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Circuit; she has continued to struggle on the WTA Tour.

Despite the versatility in her game, many have been critical of her physical fitness. If Townsend is serious about her goal to reach the top ten and win the majors, she will have to improve her physical fitness. Yet, that is not the only factor holding her back; she, needs a little more sting on her serve and she needs to inject some pace in her groundstrokes more frequently to keep her opponents off balance.

I would also venture to say that she needs a new coaching team. While she is still young, she needs to maximize her potential (I do believe she has a lot of potential) and if what she currently has is not producing results, perhaps she needs to change her plan because she will not get to the top ten and win majors with this current plan.

The American needs to also infuse a sense of urgency in her career plans because despite her age, she has been on tour already almost seven years and she really does not have much to show for her effort. While it is unfair to compare her to other players, I cannot help but compare her to Sofia Kenin and Bianca Andreescu.

Can she put it all together at the Volvo Car Open? She has won two consecutive matches, which includes today’s defeat of the number seven seed, Julia Goerges, 6-4, 7-6(0).

SOURCE OF IMAGES: Zimbio.com (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images North America – Taylor Townsend)