Taylor Townsend shakes off "bumpy road" back to Wimbledon as returning—not defending—doubles champ

A year ago, Taylor Townsend experienced the thrill of winning a Wimbledon title when she partnered Katerina Siniakova to the women’s doubles crown.

It was third time’s the charm for Townsend after finishing runner-up at the 2022 US Open and 2023 Roland Garros alongside Caty McNally and Leylah Fernandez, respectively.

The triumph was incredibly special, for the tournament marked Siniakova and Townsend's debut together. Seeded fourth, the two defeated top seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens in the semifinals before edging out second-seeded Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe for the trophy.

Twelve months later, Siniakova and Townsend return as the No. 1 seeds in the draw at the All England Club. On Sunday, the Czech and American moved through to the quarterfinals with a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4 victory over 15^th seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Liudmila Samsonova.

For the left-handed Chicago native, successfully navigating this year’s event has been the result of buying into the mentality her coach John Williams has instilled.

“I kind of shifted my mindset and John helped me with that. He was like, ‘No, you’re a returning champion, not a defending champion. You’re returning champion here to win another championship. Don’t negate that energy,’” she shared in a selfie video update on her Instagram ahead of her latest win with Siniakova.

“That energy is something so powerful. It’s only something you can carry. We’re on our vendetta to get another championship.”

Siniakova and Townsend are bidding for their fourth team title. Since joining forces, the duo has added a second piece of Grand Slam hardware at this year’s Australian Open on the back of a 2024 WTA Finals runner-up finish.

Style Guide: Taylor Townsend wore her own apparel line during Roland Garros return

It’s been a “bumpy road” over the past few months, as Townsend describes. The 28-year-old missed all but Roland Garros during the European clay-court swing after a fall at the Miami Open resulted in a mild concussion.

After reaching the mixed doubles final in Paris, she then successfully shook off rolling her ankle at a WTA 125 in Italy ahead of Wimbledon qualifying to earn a main-draw ticket—ultimately halted by countrywoman Sofia Kenin in the first round.

“It just hasn’t been an easy journey, really at all. So I’m really excited to be here and it really gives me a high level of gratitude,” Townsend said ahead of the grass-court major. “There have been so many things this year that have been giving me an opportunity to sit back and reflect. And gratitude keeps coming up.”

Townsend and her Roland Garros runner-up partner Evan King are running it back in London, too. The fourth seeds face Hsieh and Jan Zielinski later Sunday.