That's a totally different thing! You're comparing apples, oranges and onions here.
I know that, but the way your post was written seemed to imply that being (quite a bit) overweight makes it impossible to be a top athlete. Obviously Townsend is proving that she can, at least to some extent.
I don't see that way. You're talking 15-20lbs... I'm talking 20 KILOS. How many ATP pros, ranked inside the top 100, are 15lbs/7kgs overweight? None, because they would be crushed, no matter how good they are. Do you believe that Nadal or Federer would be ranked within the top 100 with 7kg of extra weight?
That's what you expect on high level professional tennis, no room for such abnormalities. It's one thing to be 20kgs overweight and own your club's league, other thing is to be inside the World's Top 100. Doesn't matter how good you are, this is just plain wrong. Taylor Townsend almost weights the same as Grigor Dimitrov despite being 15cm smaller! That's INSANE.
I'd argue that Sock is at least 7 kg too heavy. And yes, Federer or any of the top-10 players would easily be in top-100 with even 10 kg more no their bodies, I have no doubt about that.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that Townsend is way too heavy, I just think it's not a testament to how weak the WTA is, but more of how talented she is and how sadly underachieving she will remain unless losing a significant amount. EVen with 15-20 lbs less (instead of 20kg) she would probably already be able to get in the top 50.
Frankly I am baffled by the fact that she still is so much overweight (used to be more) despite playing so much. I know for some women genetically it's extremely hard to get rid of some natural chubbiness, but you'd expect her to at least get close to say a Shelby Rogers type physique.