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250 ATP ATP Finals

Race to the ATP Finals Tightens After Shanghai as Djokovic, Rune and Medvedev Advance

Shanghai shuffled the Race: Alcaraz and Sinner are in, six ATP Finals spots remain undecided now….

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The Race to the ATP Finals remains unsettled after the Shanghai Masters, with only Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner safely qualified and six berths still available. A number of contenders moved in the standings following deep runs in Shanghai, but the top of the list showed limited change because many top seeds exited early.

Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev swapped places at No. 3 and No. 4 for the second consecutive update after Zverev lost in the third round and Djokovic reached his 80th Masters 1000 semifinal. Holger Rune climbed from No. 14 to No. 12 after reaching his 11th Masters 1000 quarterfinal.

Daniil Medvedev provided perhaps the most significant shift, entering the top 15 by jumping from No. 20 to No. 15 following another strong week in China. Since his first-round exit at the US Open, Medvedev has reached the quarterfinals in Hangzhou, the semifinals in Beijing, and now a semifinal in Shanghai.

The standings also reflect roster changes due to injury. Jack Draper, at No. 9 in the Race, ended his season after the US Open because of an arm injury, which effectively places Felix Auger-Aliassime as first out of the top eight.

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Several ATP Finals hopefuls are competing at ATP 250 tournaments this week, where every point could affect qualification. Medvedev is playing in Almaty; Lorenzo Musetti and Felix Auger-Aliassime are in Brussels; and Holger Rune and Casper Ruud are in Stockholm. With ATP 500 tournaments in Basel and Vienna scheduled for next week and the Paris Masters to follow, the Race is expected to intensify and will likely be decided in the final Masters 1000 event of the season.

With six spots still undecided, the closing weeks of the season will determine which players secure places in Turin.

250 ATX Open

Townsend Secures First WTA Singles Final, Eyes Doubles Crown at ATX Open

Townsend reached her first WTA singles final and will contest doubles final at the ATX Open. Sunday.

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Taylor Townsend completed a rare feat at the ATX Open on Saturday, advancing to her first WTA singles final and, later the same day, reaching the doubles final alongside Storm Hunter. The 29-year-old, long-established as a doubles specialist, added another day to a season that has highlighted her versatility.

Townsend’s doubles résumé includes two Grand Slam titles, 2024 Wimbledon and 2025 Australian Open, and she reached WTA doubles world No. 1 last year. Still, a singles breakthrough had eluded her until Austin.

In a career-first WTA singles semifinal, Townsend beat Ashlyn Krueger 7-6 (6), 6-3 on Center Court. She recovered from a 0-4 deficit in the opening set and closed out the victory in one hour and 49 minutes.

“I’m creating a legacy for myself, and I’m doing it my way,” Townsend said in her on-court interview, after being asked to reflect on well-documented career ups and downs.

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“You know, honestly, everyone that’s talked sh-t they gotta eat their words!

“I’m still standing, I’m still here, and I’m not going anywhere. And it’s only just going to keep getting better from here, so I hope that they buckle up.”

A few hours after her singles win, Townsend and Hunter, the No. 1 seeds, defeated Cathy McNally and Kimberly Birrell 7-5, 6-4 to book their place in the doubles final. Townsend and Hunter will face No. 3 seeds Eudice Chong and Liang En-Shuo for the doubles title.

Her opponent in the singles final is No. 4 seed Peyton Stearns. The 24-year-old from Cincinnati, ranked No. 62, has strong Austin ties after playing college tennis at the University of Texas. Stearns was a three-time All-American and helped the Longhorns win back-to-back NCAA team titles.

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Stearns advanced to the singles final with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 semifinal victory over Kimberly Birrell. All week she has been publicly supported by actor and Texas graduate Matthew McConaughey, including behind-the-scenes moments and selfies while holding up the Hook ’em Horns sign.

Townsend will compete on Sunday for both the tournament singles title and the doubles crown.

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250 Finals Player News

Townsend rallies past Masarova to reach first WTA singles semifinal

Taylor Townsend reached her first WTA singles semifinal in Austin, rallying past Masarova three sets

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Taylor Townsend reached a milestone in Austin, advancing to the first WTA singles semifinal of her career after a determined three-set comeback. Facing Rebeka Masarova in the quarterfinals of the WTA 250 hard-court event, Townsend recovered from a 5-7 first set to prevail 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

The match began with Townsend racing to a 5-2 lead, only for Masarova, the 6’1″ Swiss, to reel off five games and claim the opening set. Townsend regrouped and did not lose serve again over the remainder of the encounter. She fought off all five break points she faced across the second and third sets and broke Masarova twice in each of those sets to turn the match in her favor. The contest lasted two hours and 20 minutes.

After the win, Townsend embraced her four-year-old son, Adyn, who had been watching from the stands.

Townsend’s singles breakthrough comes after two prior WTA quarterfinal appearances, both ending in tight two-set losses: Toronto in 2024 to Emma Navarro and Washington D.C. in 2025 to Leylah Fernandez. Those results had left the American searching for a deeper run; in Austin she delivered the first tour-level semifinal of her singles career.

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Her doubles record remains extensive. Townsend has 11 career WTA doubles titles, including two Grand Slam victories at Wimbledon in 2024 and the Australian Open in 2025. She also claimed two WTA 1000 doubles titles, Cincinnati in 2023 and Dubai in 2025. Last summer she rose to No. 1 in the WTA doubles rankings, becoming the first mom to reach the top spot in WTA doubles history.

Across her doubles career Townsend has reached the semifinal stage or better 31 times at tour-level events: 11 titles, eight additional finals and 12 further semifinals. That total includes reaching the doubles semifinals in Austin this week alongside Storm Hunter.

Now, in addition to that doubles pedigree, Townsend has added a new achievement — her first tour-level singles semifinal — a clear personal landmark in 2026.

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250 ATP Delray Beach Open

Learner Tien rallies past Frances Tiafoe to reach Delray Beach semifinal

Learner Tien rallied past Frances Tiafoe 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 at Delray Beach to reach his first semifinal.

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Learner Tien has become a player opponents find hard to close out at the Delray Beach Open. After surviving a scare in the round of 16 when Miomir Kecmanovic stood two points from victory, Tien edged the defending champion in a final-set tiebreaker to advance.

Twenty-four hours later the 20-year-old left-hander delivered another late flourish, beating Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5. The fourth seed produced a sequence of timely defenses and late pressure that turned the match in his favor.

Tien credited a personal observation in the stands for extra motivation during the decisive moments. “I saw my mom sitting up there when I was down 4-5 and I know if I lost, she was going to leave tomorrow,” he shared. “I was kinda thinking that early in the match, at like 2-3 in the third maybe. But it really hit home when it was 4-5 and I could kind of see the end.”

The match featured several momentum swings. Tien saved a pair of set points on Tiafoe’s serve in the 10th game of the opening set and regrouped after Tiafoe produced a re-break for 6-5. In the third set he saved three break points to avoid falling further behind and then shifted the match with a decisive run.

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Tien closed the match with a four-game streak that decided the outcome, winning 16 of the final 18 points and finishing by breaking Tiafoe at love. That run sent him into his first semifinal of the season.

Reflecting on his mindset when trailing early in the decider, Tien added: “I got down an early break, wasn’t looking too great. I prayed. I said, ‘God I trust your plan for this match.’ I just went out and competed,” he said.

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