Mexico : An American will lift the title at the ATX Open for the second straight year after Peyton Stearns and Taylor Townsend won their semifinal matches on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
Fourth seed Stearns battled past Australia’s Kimberly Birrell 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to reach her first singles final since capturing her lone WTA title in 2024 in Morocco. The former University of Texas standout closed strongly, winning the final five games of the match to seal victory in just over two hours. She saved five of 10 break points and converted seven of 10 chances, including two of the last three.
Townsend advanced to the first singles final of her WTA career with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win over fellow American Ashlyn Krueger. After dropping 12 of the opening 15 points and falling behind 0-4 in the first set, Townsend stormed back, winning six of the next seven games and breaking Krueger as she served for the set. In the tiebreak, Townsend saved a set point after seeing a 5-1 lead evaporate.
Last year, Jessica Pegula defeated McCartney Kessler in an all-American final in Austin.
Bucsa, Frech to Meet in Merida Final
At the Merida Open Akron in Mexico, Spain’s Cristina Bucsa stunned top seed Jasmine Paolini 7-5, 6-4 to earn the first Top 10 win of her career and reach her maiden WTA 500 final. Bucsa, who had lost all 10 of her previous matches against Top 10 opponents, needed one hour and 33 minutes to defeat the world No. 7 and has yet to drop a set this week.
She will face Poland’s Magdalena Frech, who overcame China’s Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 in a two-hour, 35-minute semifinal. Frech missed four match points in the second set before regrouping in the decider, winning the final four games after the pair traded early breaks to secure her third WTA singles final and second at WTA 500 level in Mexico.
