Tennis player Taylor Townsend is making the most of an unlikely Grand Slam debut.
The 18-year-old Englewood native -- ranked No. 205 in the world -- won her first-round match at the French Open Monday, beating fellow American and 62nd ranked Vania King 7-5, 6-1.
It was King's first appearance playing singles at a Grand Slam event, and she needed to earn a wild card spot to get there.
Even more impressive was the way Townsend won the match. She was down 1-5 in the first set, but came back to win 12 of the last 13 games.
Townsend told LiveTennis.com that the experience was "fun."
"I was really nervous at first, but I tried to fight every single point. Every ball that came on my side, I just tried to get it back, and worked on being positive the whole time," Townsend told the web site.
The next round figures to be much tougher when she squares off against France's top player, 20th ranked Alize Cornet.
Townsend learned her game at the South Side's XS Tennis program. She was on hand last week when Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a $9.8 million tennis facility on the site of the former Robert Taylor Homes.
