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Austin champ Peyton Stearns extends American title streak to 5 weeks

Arthur Kapetanakis | March 02, 2026

"American tennis is looking pretty good!"

 

Peyton Stearns was talking about a strong week for the U.S. in Austin, where she beat Taylor Townsend in an all-American women's singles final. But her words echo across a broader trend.

Following her home-soil victory Sunday at the WTA 250, an American has now won a tour-level singles or doubles title in five consecutive tournament weeks. Dating back to the start of the 2026 season, a U.S. player has reached a WTA, ATP or Grand Slam final each tournament week of the year, including the Australian Open fortnight.

 

There has also been an all-American singles final in each of the past three weeks: Ben Shelton beat Taylor Fritz in Dallas and Sebastian Korda downed Tommy Paul in Delray Beach before the Stearns-Townsend showdown in Austin.

 

Stearns claimed her second career WTA singles title with a 7-6(8), 7-5 victory, having battled through three three-setters to reach the final. Already an Austin legend after winning two NCAA team titles (2021-22) and an NCAA singles crown (2022) with the Texas Longhorns, the 24-year-old added to her legacy with a professional trophy in her adopted hometown.

Peyton Stearns won her second WTA singles title on Sunday in Austin. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

Townsend also left Texas with a title, immediately bouncing back from her final defeat to win the Austin doubles crown with Aussie partner Storm Hunter. And two more Americans competed in finals in Acapulco last weekend: the resurgent Frances Tiafoe reached his first singles final in nearly a year, while Robert Galloway advanced to his second doubles final of the season.

 

All told, four Americans have captured an ATP or WTA singles title in the past three weeks—Shelton, Pegula, Korda and Stearns—with six more reaching singles finals this season. On the doubles side, four Americans have won tour-level titles in 2026, led by Australian Open champ Christian Harrison. A further four have reached doubles finals.

 

A week-by-week look at the American dominance shows the depth of the U.S. game in 2026:

 

American tour-level champions and finalists in 2026

Week of Jan. 5

Brandon Nakashima - Brisbane singles finalist

 

Week of Jan. 12

Iva Jovic - Hobart singles finalist

Robert Galloway - Auckland doubles finalist (w/ Alexander Erler)

Desirae Krawczyk - Hobart doubles finalist (w/ Lyudmyla Kichenok)

 

Australian Open (Weeks of Jan. 19 & 26)

Christian Harrison - Doubles champion (w/ Neal Skupski)

 

Week of Feb. 2

Sabrina Santamaria - Ostrava doubles champion (w/ Anastasia Detiuc)

 

Week of Feb. 9

Ben Shelton - Dallas singles champion

Taylor Fritz - Dallas singles finalist

 

Week of Feb. 16

Jessica Pegula - Dubai singles champion

Sebastian Korda - Delray Beach singles champion

Tommy Paul - Delray Beach singles finalist

Austin Krajicek - Delray Beach doubles champion (w/ Nikola Mektic)

Benjamin Kittay & Ryan Seggerman - Delray Beach doubles finalists

 

Week of Feb. 23

Peyton Stearns - Austin singles champion

Taylor Townsend - Austin singles finalist and doubles champion (w/ Storm Hunter)

Frances Tiafoe - Acapulco singles finalist

Robert Galloway - Acapulco doubles finalist (w/ Alexander Erler)

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