American doubles specialist Taylor Townsend said that Andre Agassi was her favorite player in his swashbuckling prime. The two-time Major doubles champion is preparing for her Indian Wells qualifying match against Yanina Wickmayer but took time to reminisce about tennis’ past greats.
Townsend had a rough start to the year in singles and has yet to make it out of the first round in any tournament. She lost in three sets to Renata Zarazua in Melbourne, then crashed out to Elise Merterns in Singapore and Zeynep Sonmez in Abu Dhabi. Finally, she lost to Elena Gabriel Ruse and Aoi Ito in Qatar and Dubai, respectively.
But it’s in doubles that Townsend excels, where she’s ranked No. 2 in the world. The American has come fresh from a winning campaign at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she and partner Kateřina Siniaková beat Ostiapenko and Hsieh 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final.
Townsend responded to an Instagram post from Agassi in which he’s pictured in his prime back in 1995. Agassi sported the bandana that in those days was his signature look, under the caption: “Recreating this picture from 30 years ago.” Townsend re-posted the picture with her comment:
“@agassi my fav”
Taylor Townsend Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/stories/tay_taytownsend/?hl=en)
Taylor Townsend Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/stories/tay_taytownsend/?hl=en)
In his heyday, Agassi was one of the all-time greats. He and Pete Sampras dominated world tennis in the 1990s and 2000s. Agassi was an eight-time Major singles champion and held the World No. 1 spot for 101 weeks. The Las Vegas native also claimed 60 ATP tour titles. He is one of only five men to capture a career singles Grand Slam and one of only three to complete the Golden Slam.
Taylor Townsend started playing tennis just as Andre Agassi’s career was coming to an end
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – Day Seven – Source: Getty
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – Day Seven – Source: Getty
Taylor Townsend’s admiration for Andre Agassi is unsurprising. Born in 1996, she would have picked up a tennis racket for the first time just as Agassi’s career was coming to a close. Townsend’s professional career has spanned 13 years. Despite her doubles reputation, she has ranked as high as No. 46 in singles as recently as August 2024.
This year, Townsend added the Australian Open doubles title to the Wimbledon crown she and partner Siniakova captured in 2024, beating the World No. 1 pairing of Erin Routiffe and Gabriela Dabrowski. She’s also a US Open mixed doubles finalist, but she and partner Donald Young lost to Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori 7–6(0), 7–5 last September.
Townsend also has six WTA tour doubles titles and has appeared in two other Major finals. She was runner-up in the 2022 US Open (alongside Caty McNally) and at Roland Garros in 2023 with Leylah Fernandez.