Taylor Townsend, the tennis player who was asked to lose weight wins in Rome – Corriere.it

Rain is forecast today at the Foro Italico. That one-piece suit, yellow, with which Taylor Townsend has decided to take the field in the Internationals of the rebirth, it will make even more contrast and effect. Field number 12, one of the last to be built inside the park and the one where contact between fans and athletes is closest, will be full of people who have read his redemption story: against a system, against prejudices, against an injustice. The player who is physically closest to the circuit on the circuit Serena Williamseven if left-handed, at the age of 16 she had an uncommon talent, so much so that she grew up tennis in Boca Raton, Florida, one of the most famous USTA (American federation) centers: yet, in 2012 she was made to understand that – despite being No. 1 at Junior level — to represent the United States at the US Open you had to change. Lose weight, return to the required parameters, and who cares if you won games even with 80 kilos on. She was not granted a wild card, not even for qualifiers, not even reimbursement for travel expenses.

The news, even then, was traveling fast, and what the USTA thought could be a measure destined to remain under the radar in reality became a national case. The controversy flared up, even a fundraiser was born to make her participate in the tournament: the federation retraced its steps, reimbursing at least the expenses of the trip to New York, but by now the fool was done. And imagine a talented girl, 16 years old, forced to stop not because of an injury but because of her physical appearance. Morally devastating effects, which led to a dark period in Taylor’s life made of depression, the desire to leave tennis. The desire for revenge, however, prevailed over everything. The ranking plummeted, in 2016 in an ITF tournament she lost against a 69-year-old player, Gail Falkenburg. In 2019, when in the meantime Townsend had become a 23-year-old woman, it all started right from Flushing Meadows and from the tournament for which they hadn’t even paid her the trip: she won against Simona Halep, received compliments from Kobe Bryant and, on social, used a phrase by rapper Drake. “I’m buying the house of all those who have closed the door in my face.” Now she would like to teach the rapper’s son how to play tennis, as well as former NBA player Dwyane Wade.

But back to Taylor, who in 2021 it stopped again. This time not for depression, but to become a mother. More kilos, of love, but who knows how many thought that such a different way of playing tennis, made up of so many descents to the net, would never be seen again. And instead, after the birth of Adyn Aubrey Johnson, Townsend returned to the field, in doubles – where she entered the top 10 in the world rankings, paired with the Canadian Leylah Fernandez – and in singles, where two days ago she knocked out compatriot Jessica Pegula, number 3 in the world before her friend. “I knew that by following my path I would piece together her career. I put another brick in my path. Now I’m even more eager than before, I won’t stop », she said after the match, in which the Rome crowd cheered on her. That «Go Taylor Go», today, will still be heard, because in addition to being a talent, Taylor is an example for many.