Hook ’em! Texas favorite Stearns delivers in Austin, wins second WTA title

Three years in the past, American Peyton Stearns picked up her first WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz main-draw win on the ATX Open — her adopted hometown match after a fruitful school tennis profession on the close by University of Texas — and reached the quarterfinals. Since then, Stearns maintained it might be good if a Longhorn might take the match’s trophy.

Austin: Scores | Draws | Order of play

The 2022 NCAA champion made good on that promise on Sunday with a 7-6(8), 7-5 win over fellow American Taylor Townsend — a gritty 2 hour and 22-minute win that earned her a second tour-level singles title.

Stearns, at present ranked No. 53, got here into the match having misplaced in the primary spherical in every of the final two years — and when she misplaced the opening set of her first match of the week towards Francesca Jones, an unfortunate hat trick appeared a practical risk. But she rallied for that win, and gained two extra three-setters in the three subsequent rounds to advance to her first tour-level singles ultimate in almost two full years — and first on onerous courts. Stearns final reached a ultimate on tour in May 2024, when she gained the clay-court WTA 250 in Rabat, Morocco.

Against Townsend, she trailed once more — having misplaced the one prior assembly between the 2 compatriots. The left-hander, contesting her first WTA singles ultimate, led for nearly the whole lot of the primary set, and had two set factors on Stearns’ serve at 5-3. But the 24-year-old saved them each, and saved one other in the tiebreak — earlier than lastly wrapping up the set herself on her fifth alternative.

In the second set, Townsend was the one who erased deficits — twice coming from a break behind — and was two factors away from forcing a 3rd set. But Stearns stood tall to carry serve for 5-5 after being pushed to deuce from 40-0, a recreation that kicked off a run of three straight to her that gained the match.

The match marked the second straight all-American title match in Austin, as Jessica Pegula beat McCartney Kessler to win the 2025 crown.

But hours later, Townsend made positive she wasn’t leaving Austin with out the large prize: She and Storm Hunter, the highest seeds in doubles, gained that title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 3 seeds Eudice Chong and Liang En-shuo.