Taylor Townsend‘s difficult week continues after losing the world No. 1 doubles ranking to her partner, Katerina Siniakova. The American lost her top ranking following her participation in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, where the USA lost in the final to Italy, without the opportunity to play the doubles match after a pair of singles defeats.

On June 28, Townsend reached the world No. 1 doubles ranking for the first time in her career. She became the 50th player to achieve this, displacing the Czech Katerina Siniakova—her current doubles partner. However, the American’s stay at the top lasted only eight weeks, following a week without earning any ranking points.

Townsend’s presence in Shenzhen for the Billie Jean King Cup led Katerina Siniakova to enter the doubles draw of the Korea Open with her former partner, Barbora Krejcikova—with whom she has won 7 of her 10 Grand Slam titles so far. The Czech duo showcased their great experience together and won their 18th joint title with a strong performance in Seoul, defeating Caty McNally and Maya Joint in the final.

Siniakova earned 500 points and returned to the world No. 1 spot on the doubles tour. The 29-year-old Czech is an absolute legend in the category, with 10 major titles and accumulating 161 weeks at the top of the ranking (4th in the historical record). It was her 50th doubles final, and she secured her 31st title, once again teaming up with Krejcikova, the partner with whom she has had the most success.

Siniakova reclaims top spot

While Siniakova and Townsend have been competing together for over a year, calendar changes have led them to occasionally compete with other partners. In fact, the American played with Shuai Zhang at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open, while Siniakova was out of doubles competition those weeks, explaining why Townsend was a few points ahead of Siniakova in the rankings.

With Townsend competing for Team USA—and with no chance to earn points—Siniakova and Krejčíková’s brief partnership brought success back to the Czechs, who didn’t drop a set on their way to the doubles title. They won the title with a score of 6-3, 7-6 against Maya Joint and Caty McNally.

Now Siniakova has the first chance to finish the year as doubles world No. 1. She has 8,625 points, leaving Townsend further behind (8,460). Not far behind are Erin Routliffe (7,725) and Gabriela Dabrowski (7,270), partners in the US Open title, while fifth place is an absolute tie between Italians Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani (7,195), French Open champions.

Siniakova is in a great position to try and finish the year at the top for the fifth time in her career, which would tie Martina Navratilova’s record. Siniakova is currently 4th among players with the most accumulated weeks as No. 1 and just two weeks away from reaching Cara Black in third place.

Controversy and apology

It was undoubtedly a week full of emotions for Townsend, who began the week in controversy due to videos she shared on social media upon her arrival in Shenzhen, China. She joked about the food offered at dinner in China and drew criticism for her comments, which many felt had a racist or derogatory connotation against the local culture.

Sharing a video with Hailey Baptiste, she examined the buffet, which included sea cucumber, turtle, and bullfrog, before saying, “What the hell. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen… and people eating this.”

After receiving various criticisms on social media, Townsend had to apologize for the situation that occurred upon her arrival in China. “I just wanted to truly apologize. There’s no excuse. There’s no words. For me, I will be better. I’m really thankful to my country to be able to represent them.”

Townsend played one match in the quarterfinals against Kazakhstan, teaming up with Jessica Pegula to secure a victory over Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva. After that, her presence was not needed in the semifinals against Great Britain, while in the final, she did not get to play, as Italy sealed the victory with two singles wins, with Elisabetta Cocciaretto defeating Emma Navarro and then Jasmine Paolini beating Jessica Pegula.