By Erik Gudris | Wednesday, May 28, 2014

 

American teenager Taylor Townsend overcame France's best player and a rowdy Paris crowd to reach the third round of the French Open.

Photo Credit: Peter Staples

Taylor Townsend may just be saying "J'aime Paris!".

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That's because the 18-year-old American wildcard pulled off an impressive three win against France's best player to reach the third round of this year's French Open.

Making her Grand Slam main draw this year in Paris, the highly touted junior standout Townsend found herself taking on France's No. 1 and No. 20 seed Alize Cornet in the second round.

With potent groundstrokes and steady hands at net, Townsend secured the first set 6-4.

After jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, Townsend looked ready to close things out. But nerves on her part along with Cornet's tenacity allowed the Frenchwoman to rally back for 4-all. Soon, Cornet closed out the set 6-4.

Now ranked No. 205 in the world, Townsend responded by breaking Cornet twice for a 4-1 lead in the third set. Looking confident, Townsend soon held multiple match points on Cornet's serve at 5-1. Townsend would just miss though on several of those chances allowing Cornet to hold for 5-2.

Cornet, buoyed by a rowdy Paris crowd urging her on, soon started winning game after game after Townsend failed to serve out the match. Pulling to within 5-4, Cornet forced Townsend to serve for it again.

Finding several big serves just when she needed them, the young American would hold a fifth match point. A tense rally would follow. But after Cornet dumped a forehand into the net, Townsend punched the air in celebration of her 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win.

Townsend is now the youngest American at age 18 to reach the third round of the French Open since Ashley Harkleroad back in 2003.

Delighted with her win, Townsend was later asked about making the transition from being junior No. 1 to the pros.

"Being number one, any number one, was validation that, you know, I was ready to move on to the next level, but, I mean, I knew that I could do it. This has been my dream, this has been my goal, so honestly, like, you know, I'm really shocked, but at the same time I'm not," Townsend said. "These are the moments and these are the times I dream about. As a professional athlete and a young athlete, these are the times that, you know, I have been wishing that would come, and I'm just really happy I took advantage of my opportunity today."

During the match, Andy Murray had expressed praise about Townsend on Twitter. When told about it, Townsend thought it was very cool.

"What's up, Andy? I love your mom (laughter)," Townsend said. "That's pretty cool. Maybe I'll tweet him back. Maybe I will get a whole bunch of followers."

Townsend will next play Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro in the third round.

Other winners on the day included Agnieszka Radwanska, Maria Sharapova and Sam Stosur.