Peyton Stearns outlasted Taylor Townsend 7-6(10-8), 7-5 in the all-American final of the 2026 ATX Open WTA 250 event in Austin on March 1, securing her second career singles title—her first on hard courts and home soil—in a nearly 2.5-hour battle. The fourth-seeded American (world No. 62) overcame a resilient opponent in the ninth all-American WTA final of the 2020s.
In the final at Westwood Country Club under sunny but breezy conditions, Ohio native Peyton Stearns, a University of Texas at Austin alumna and 2022 NCAA singles champion, faced fellow American Taylor Townsend. Stearns, who earned her first tour-level main draw win at the ATX Open three years earlier and previously won the 2024 Rabat clay title, entered seeded fourth with a career-high ranking of No. 28 last May, two top-10 wins, and a third-round Australian Open run in January.
Townsend, ranked No. 119 and a left-handed former doubles world No. 1 with two Grand Slam titles (Australian Open and Wimbledon), used a wildcard. The 29-year-old first-time mother reached her first WTA singles final after a 7-6(6), 6-3 semifinal comeback over Ashlyn Krueger from 1-4 down, and later partnered top seed Storm Hunter to win the doubles title 6-3, 6-4 over Eudice Chong and Liang En-shuo. Their only prior meeting was a 2022 qualifying win for Townsend at the Western & Southern Open.
Stearns won the coin toss and served first. The first set saw Townsend break early for 2-0, but Stearns leveled it. After trading holds, Stearns saved double set point at 4-5, broke at love for 6-5, and forced a tiebreak. She took a 4-1 lead with aces, saved a set point, and closed 10-8. The second set featured exchanged breaks: Stearns led 3-2, Townsend tied it; at 4-4, Townsend held with serve-and-volley leveraging her doubles prowess. Stearns broke back at 5-5 with a forehand winner and held, converting double match point with an unreturnable forehand.
Stearns tallied 8 aces, 5 double faults, won 66% of first-serve points and 55% of second-serve points, converting 4/6 break points while saving 4/7. She navigated a tough draw, including quarterfinal 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 over Oksana Selekhmeteva and semifinal 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 over Kimberly Birrell—her second straight American win in Austin after Jessica Pegula's 2025 title.
Townsend post-match defiantly addressed critics: “Everyone that’s talked sh*t they gotta eat their words. I’m still standing." Local support was strong, with Austin resident and UT alumnus Matthew McConaughey attending and joining Stearns on court. Stearns, now with titles on clay and hard courts, heads to Indian Wells.
