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" Back in 2012, teen tennis sensation Taylor Townsend wasn&amp;#039;t allowed to complete in the U.S. Open Junior tournament because the U.S. Tennis Assosication thought she was too heavy. Instead of letting their body shaming get to her, she decided to compete without their support. While she lost in the quarterfinals, she did dump her old coaches, and this year, she ended up making it all the way to the 3rd round of the French Open, beating out top competitors! Now, Taylor&amp;#039;s hard work and determination is paying off. At 18 years old, Taylor will take on history-making tennis powerhouse Serena Williams in the opening round of the U.S. Open later this month! Serena, who&amp;#039;s also faced body shamers in her career, has been a big supporter of Taylor in the past, saying that her being body shamed was &amp;quot;obviously a tragedy, because everyone deserves to play. Women athletes come in all different sizes and shapes and colors and everything.&amp;quot; Facing off against one of the top women&amp;#039;s tennis players in history will totally be a challenge for Taylor, but it must be nice knowing her competitor is facing off against body shamers with her! Are you excited to see Taylor take on Serena? Let us know in the comments below! MORE: Model Chantelle Brown-Young Was Bullied Because of Her Vitiligo\u2014And Now She&amp;#039;s Using Her Story To Help Other Girls Real Girls Doing Amazing Things! Proof That Misty Copeland Is The Most Badass Ballerina Photo Credit: Getty Images "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/health/fitness/reviews/a24375/taylor-townsend-to-face-serena-williams-in-us-open/>