Two Americans Set for Championship Match at Austin Tennis Tournament

Peyton Stearns and Taylor Townsend will compete in an all-American final at the ATX Open in Austin, Texas on Sunday. This marks the second straight year the tournament will crown an American champion.

The ATX Open will crown an American champion for the second year running after Peyton Stearns and Taylor Townsend both claimed semifinal victories Saturday in Austin, Texas, setting up Sunday’s championship showdown between the two Americans.

Stearns, seeded fourth in the tournament and a former University of Texas standout who captured All-American honors, a national singles title, and helped deliver two NCAA team championships during her college career in Austin, battled through a three-set thriller against Australia’s Kimberly Birrell, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The victory sends Stearns to her first singles championship match since capturing her only career title in Morocco in 2024.

Townsend earned her spot in the final by defeating American compatriot Ashlyn Krueger in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-3, marking her debut appearance in a WTA singles final. The 2023 tournament also featured an all-American championship match when Jessica Pegula defeated McCartney Kessler 7-5, 6-2.

Stearns needed slightly more than two hours to close out Birrell, claiming the final five games of the match to seal her advancement to her third career championship match. She successfully defended five of ten break point opportunities while capitalizing on seven of her ten chances, including converting two of the match’s final three break points.

Townsend faced early adversity against Krueger, dropping 12 of the opening 15 points and falling behind 0-4 in the first set before mounting her comeback. She responded by capturing six of the following seven games, breaking Krueger’s serve when her opponent was attempting to close out the set. Despite allowing a 5-1 tiebreak advantage to slip away, Townsend saved set point and eventually prevailed in the tiebreaker.

At the Merida Open Akron tournament in Mexico, Spain’s Cristina Bucsa pulled off a major upset by defeating top-seeded Jasmine Piolini of Italy, earning a championship match against Poland’s Magdalena Frech, who eliminated China’s Zhang Shuai in the other semifinal.

Bucsa recorded her first career victory over a Top 10 opponent, sweeping Piolini 7-5, 6-4 to reach her inaugural WTA 500 final. The Spanish player had previously lost all 10 encounters against Top 10 competitors before defeating the world’s seventh-ranked player in one hour and 33 minutes. Bucsa maintained her perfect set record for the week, building leads of 5-2 in the opening set and 4-0 in the second set during her upset victory.

Frech advanced by outlasting Zhang in a marathon 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 battle lasting two hours and 35 minutes, securing her third WTA singles final appearance and second at the WTA 500 level in Mexico. The Polish player held four match points during the second set, but Zhang forced a deciding third set with her tiebreak victory.

Though Zhang accumulated nearly twice as many winners as Frech, the Polish competitor persevered for the victory. Following an exchange of breaks to start the final set, Frech captured the match’s last four games to complete her hard-earned triumph.