Taylor Townsend’s season in singles and doubles couldn’t be any more different.

While the Chicago native is undefeated alongside Katerina Siniakova in doubles — they collected a second Grand Slam title together at the Australian Open in January — Townsend had lost all five of her singles matches.

That changed Monday at the BNP Paribas Open, when Townsend beat fellow mom Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of qualifying. Townsend barely lost a point behind her first serve (87 percent points won) and saved the lone break point she faced 10 years after the pair’s lone previous meeting.

Wickmayer — a semifinalist at the 2009 US Open — missed most of last year with a back injury and only returned to action in late January.

For a spot in the main draw in 2025, the fourth seed will have to overcome her fellow American and lefty, Varvara Lepchenko. Townsend got through qualifying and made the second round in 2024, taking seed Anna Kalinskaya to a third set.

Her current ranking of No. 89 sits well below her career high of No. 46 set last August. 

Another player perhaps best known for her doubles prowess but making strides in singles, too, Japan’s Ena Shibahara, played at Stadium 6.

But unlike Townsend, the 2022 doubles finalist in the desert was unable to progress after being beaten by Washington, D.C. native Hailey Baptiste 6-0, 2-6, 6-3.

Shibahara — who grew up just south of Los Angeles and later starred at UCLA — overcame a slow start to lead by a break 3-2 in the third set. Baptiste, though, then won 17 of the final 23 points to set up a meeting with France’s Leolia Jeanjean.

Baptiste qualified last year — taking out of this year’s most in-form players, Clara Tauson — and took part in one of the tournament’s most dramatic matches. The current World No. 100 held two match points against Madison Keys before Keys prevailed in a third-set tiebreak in the second round of the 2024 BNP Paribas Open.

Elsewhere, Kimberly Birrell of Australia had a potentially tricky match against Kristina Penickova of Campbell, California. Birrell, after all, was the top seed and faced a 15-year-old wild card who sparkled in the Australian Open junior competition. But Birrell avoided the upset, winning 6-3, 6-0.

Two other Australians, Ajla Tomljanovic and Maya Joint (who was born in Michigan), joined Birrell in the final round of qualifying.

See more scores and results from Day 2 of women’s qualifying.