Magda Linette faced Taylor Townsend on Thursday in the first round of the prestigious WTA 1000 competition in Indian Wells. Despite leading with a break in the second set, the Polish tennis player left the court defeated.
Rafał Smoliński
08 March 2024, 02:15
Getty Images / Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto / In the photo: Magda Linette In 2017, Magda Linette (WTA 54) and Taylor Townsend (WTA 77) faced each other in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open and the Pole won 6:4, 6:2. After seven years, both tennis players met once more during the tournament in Indian Wells, but this time the American came out on top. The hosts’ player turned the tide of the match and following two hours and 32 minutes she finally won 3:6, 7:6(3), 6:1.
Linette’s meeting with Townsend was originally scheduled for Wednesday. However, rain forced the organizers to postpone the match by one day. Ultimately, the ladies started competing on Thursday.
The beginning of the match belonged to the left-handed tennis player of the hosts. She was the one who worked on the return in the third game and got the break. Townsend, however, played very irregularly and alternated successful actions with simple mistakes. Since the score was 2:1, she paid for it by losing her serve twice.
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Linette took the lead 4:2, but in the final phase of the set she did not have an easy task. The US representative tried to break once more and hoped to completely make up for the losses. However, this did not happen because the Pole did great in the eighth game and outscored her opponent. With the score 5:3, the Poznań player finally achieved her goal. She saved two break points and then converted the first set point.
The second game was a different story, and Linette certainly has something to regret. In the third game she scored a break, but following the change of ends it was 2. History repeated itself a dozen or so minutes later. The Pole served at 4:3, but was easily broken. Making up for the break loss once more clearly gave the American a boost.
In the final phase of the set, the Pole was under pressure. In the tenth game, she was two balls away from defeat in the second game. In the twelfth game, Townsend already had set points that she should have used. Especially at the first opportunity, she led the rally well, but with an open court, she sent the ball out. Ultimately, our tennis player defended both set points and led to a tie-break.
The 13th game was a complete failure for Linette. The Pole was unable to score any points on her own serve. Townsend went up 3-0 and then our representative reduced some of the losses with a good return performance. But the American quickly built a large advantage following the change of sides. She scored the next three points and had four more chances to end the second set. First she made an unforced error, but she took advantage of the fourth set point by sending a strong forehand.
The reversal of fate in the second part clearly added faith to the 27-year-old from the USA. Now she seemed to be the favorite to win and the first games of the third set confirmed it. Already at the beginning of this game, Linette had difficulty defending two break points. In the third game, Townsend pressed the return once more and following a strong forehand she had another opportunity to break. The Pole mightn’t stand the pressure and returned the serve with a double fault.
After losing the pass to Linette, the air visibly escaped. The American, however, continued to play well. When she broke once more in the fifth game, it became clear that she would not give up the win. In fact, already in the seventh game she had three match points and in the second game she sent the finishing backhand.
Linette already lost in the first phase of the singles tournament and she only has to compete in the doubles tournament, which she entered together with the American Bernarda Pera. The winner, Townsend, will play in the second round of the main draw, and her opponent on Friday will be the 21st seeded Russian Anna Kalinska.
BNP Paribas OpenIndian Wells (USA)
WTA 1000, hard court, prize pool of $9.258 million
Thursday, March 7
1st round of singles play:
Taylor Townsend (USA, Q) – Magda Linette (Poland) 3:6, 7:6(3), 6:1
Program and results of the women’s tournament
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