Taylor Townsend Signs Contract With Lagardere Unlimited

Written by: Staff on 4th December 2012

Taylor Townsend Signs Contract With Lagardere Unlimited |

Taylor Townsend, aged just 16 but widely regarded as the American female player to follow the path blazed by the Williams sisters, has joined Lagardere Unlimited’s roster of leading tennis stars that includes current WTA world no.1 Victoria Azarenka, her predecessor Caroline Wozniacki and top American males John Isner, Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey.

Townsend has played the majority of her tennis on the junior circuit and thus far has only played a handful of lower ranked adult events to register a career high WTA ranking of 415 back in May after reaching the semi-final of a $50,000 ITF event in Carson City, California. She is about to contest the Orange Bowl in Miami and if successful she will end the year the world’s no.1 ranked junior.

The left-hander from Stockbridge, Georgia became 2012 Australian Open girls singles and doubles champion in January. She also became Wimbledon and US Open junior doubles champion and was a member of the USA’s victorious 2012 Junior Fed Cup team.

But the United Stares Tennis Association became embroiled in controversy when Townsend was advised not to play the junior singles event because of weight issues.

John Tobias, president of Lagardere Unlimited’s tennis division told SportsPro: “There are a lot of other athletes in other sports at very high levels that male tennis players have to compete with in marketability. But tennis players on the women’s side are the most high profile athletes in the world.

“Strategically, we’ve looked at that and decided to focus on the women because we have the ability to market them and separate them from all the other female athletes around the world.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: American junior tennis news, American tennis enws, American tennis stars, Caroline Wozniacki, John Isner, Lagarderer Unlimited, Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, Serena Williams, Taylor Townsend, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka