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

Three years ago, American Peyton Stearns picked up her first WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz main-draw win at the ATX Open -- her adopted hometown tournament after a fruitful college tennis career at the nearby University of Texas -- and reached the quarterfinals. Since then, Stearns maintained it would be nice if a Longhorn could take the tournament'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, currently ranked No. 53, came into the tournament having lost in the first round in each of the last two years -- and when she lost the opening set of her first match of the week against Francesca Jones, an unlucky hat trick seemed a realistic possibility. But she rallied for that win, and won two more three-setters in the three subsequent rounds to advance to her first tour-level singles final in nearly two full years -- and first on hard courts. Stearns last reached a final on tour in May of 2024, when she won the clay-court WTA 250 in Rabat, Morocco.

Against Townsend, she trailed again -- having lost the only prior meeting between the two compatriots. The left-hander, contesting her first WTA singles final, led for almost the entirety of the first set, and had two set points on Stearns' serve at 5-3. But the 24-year-old saved them both, and saved another in the tiebreak -- before finally wrapping up the set herself on her fifth opportunity.

In the second set, Townsend was the one who erased deficits -- twice coming from a break behind -- and was two points away from forcing a third set. But Stearns stood tall to hold serve for 5-5 after being pushed to deuce from 40-0, a game that kicked off a run of three straight to her that won 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 sure she wasn't leaving Austin without the big prize: She and Storm Hunter, the top seeds in doubles, won that title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 3 seeds Eudice Chong and Liang En-shuo.