As a junior, Atlanta-born Crawford won the girls' singles title at the 2012 US Open, defeating Anett Kontaveit in the final.

In her first women's Grand Slam main-draw appearance, Crawford lost to fellow teenager Laura Robson.

In 2015, Crawford came into the US Open by winning the Wild Card Challenge, a three-week series of hardcourt events played out on the USTA Pro Circuit.

[1] At the Brisbane International, Crawford caused an upset by defeating top-15 player Belinda Bencic in the second round.

She subsequently went on to reach her first semifinal on the WTA Tour, but lost the match to former world No.