Taylor Townsend wins her first main draw match since the US Open in dramatic fashion

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Taylor Townsend has returned to winning ways after coming from behind in her first round match against Linda Fruhvirtova at the ATX Open.

Townsend was a point away from the US Open quarterfinals last year, after having eight match points against Barbora Krejcikova.

After her impressive run in New York, where she beat Mirra Andreeva and Jelena Ostapenko, many had expected doubles Grand Slam champion Townsend to continue rising up the singles rankings.

However, Townsend had not won a singles main draw match until her first round in Austin, Texas.

Taylor Townsend saves a match point to beat Linda Fruhvirtova

Townsend reached the second week of the US Open last year, but still remained outside the top 100 of the singles rankings.

The 29-year-old is also only playing her third singles tournament since the US Open at the ATX Open, with Townsend not playing since the Australian Open until now.

While Townsend has won three singles matches since the US Open, these wins had come in qualifying and she was still awaiting her first main draw win since then.

After receiving a wildcard for the WTA 250 tournament in Austin, Texas, Townsend was supposed to play fifth seed Varvara Gracheva.

Gracheva withdrew from the tournament at the last-minute, meaning that she was replaced by lucky loser Linda Fruhvirtova.

Fruhvirtova appeared to be taking advantage of this lifeline, as she was a set and a break up on Townsend, and even had a match point in the second set.

However, Townsend fought back to beat Fruhvirtova, 6-4 7-6(3) 7-5, to win her first main draw singles match since she beat Andreeva at the US Open six months ago.

Could Taylor Townsend return to the top 100 in Austin?

Townsend began the week as the world number 119 in singles, searching for a return to the top 100 for the first time since July last year.

After beating Fruhvirtova, Townsend is at world number 116 in the live rankings and will be sensing an opportunity at the ATX Open.

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Due to other results at the tournament, Townsend now only has qualifiers in her section of the draw leading up to the semifinals.

If Townsend was to reach the semifinals then she would currently be in the top 100 of the live WTA rankings.

It is important for Townsend to have a positive week in Austin, as she is defending 115 points at upcoming tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.

Townsend’s next opponent is another Czech player in Nikola Bartunkova, who has made an impressive start to the 2026 season after beating Belinda Bencic en route to the third round of the Australian Open.