Three years later, Tauson is showing why the hype was real

INDIAN WELLS — Three years ago, just a few months past her 19^th birthday, Clara Tauson had risen to No. 33 in the PIF WTA Rankings and was seemingly poised to become a star.

And then, almost inexplicably, over the next 10 months, she won only three WTA Tour-level matches. Playing minor events in Luxembourg, Andorra and France at the end, her ranking slipped to No. 140.

“I was very young coming up and, yeah, maybe it happened to fast for my body and my mind,” Tauson told wtatennis.com Friday at the BNP Paribas Open. “Of course it’s been really difficult. I’ve been struggling with injuries and getting wins has been hard.

“But when you see a glimpse of the game you used to play, I think that gives you hope.”

And that hope has lifted the 22-year-old from Denmark to a career-high ranking of No. 22.

After three years of heartache and frustration, she’s where she fully expected to be. Last year, Tauson lost in the second round of qualifying at Indian Wells. On Sunday, she plays No. 9 seed Mirra Andreeva in a savory third-round match featuring two of the brightest young players on the Hologic WTA Tour.

The 17-year-old Andreeva defeated Tauson two weeks ago in the Dubai WTA 1000 final. And for those who might doubt Tauson’s chances, consider this: After losing to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of the Australian Open, Tauson came back a month later to thump her 6-3, 6-2 in Dubai’s Round of 16.

Tauson’s wrenching 7-6 (3), 7-5 second-round victory over Camila Osorio was her 16^th match-win of the year. For the record, no woman has more. And while Tauson doesn’t pay much attention to those things, the Danish press has made her quite aware of her emerging position in the game.

When the season began, and she was ranked No. 50, could she possibly have imagined that scenario?

“No,” Tauson said, “definitely not. My last year didn’t go as I hoped. Going from qualies to being seeded here is quite a different feeling. I’m going to just try to keep going this way. Hopefully my body is going to stay like this.”

And that is the only real question that hovers over this resurgence.

She was a hard-hitting junior phenom, winning nine ITF singles titles, including the 2019 Australian Open. Later that year, she became the first Dane to reach No. 1 in the junior rankings. Even Caroline Wozniacki — a future No. 1 on the senior circuit — didn’t achieve that.

But with the physical stress of an increasingly demanding schedule, Tauson’s sturdy 6-foot body began to betray her. Knee and back injuries set her back. Rehabilitation, not playing tennis, became more the norm. Tauson reluctantly learned lessons on the values of patience and persistence.

“Those three years have given me a lot of perspective,” she said. “I know it can go downhill any second so I have to enjoy it while I can. I know it’s not easy. We see a lot of players going up and down. If I can be healthy, that’s my main goal.

“I’m a little bit more grown up and my brain also. Of course you have some self-doubt always, so it’s nice to have people who are lifting you up always. That’s one of the things that’s helped me the past couple of months.”

And while her prospects — and outlook — have shifted dramatically, one thing that isn’t going away are the comparisons to Wozniacki. Denmark has a population of 5.8 million, more people than the state of Colorado and Wisconsin, but fewer than Minnesota.

“Caroline, she’s a great champion but we play very different games,” Tauson said. “It’s just when you’re a small tennis country and it’s very few who make it, you are going to have the comparisons. She showed there was a way, but it was a different time. I’m very proud of the things I’ve done in my career and hopefully I can keep going.

“Maybe one day a kid will come up and be compared to me.”

Tauson’s emergence began with the title in Auckland. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but she beat Madison Keys in the quarterfinals — handing the Australian Open champion her only loss of the season. Instructively, Tauson leads all women with 581 winners this season, 72 more than second-place Keys.

“I’ve worked hard for this, so I’m very happy the way I started the season,” Tauson said.

“Yeah, I can’t complain.”