250 ATP United Cup
Poland into United Cup final as Kawa and Zielinski prevail in mixed doubles decider
Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski beat Coco Gauff and Christian Harrison to send Poland to the final.
Poland reached the United Cup final when Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski defeated Coco Gauff and Christian Harrison 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in a mixed doubles decider. The victory sends Poland into Sunday’s final against Switzerland.
Kawa and Zielinski had already been decisive in a mixed-doubles decider in the quarterfinals against Australia, and their latest win again brought teammates onto the court to celebrate. Six-time Grand Slam singles champion Iga Swiatek rushed over to join the celebrations.
Earlier in the tie, Gauff beat the No. 2-ranked Swiatek 6-4, 6-2 to force the mixed-doubles decider. Fourth-ranked Gauff, the Roland Garros champion, evened the matchup at 1-1 after Hubert Hurkacz beat Taylor Fritz 7-6 (1), 7-6 (2) in the singles opener at Ken Rosewall Arena. It was Gauff’s fourth straight victory over Świątek, the Wimbledon champion.
Switzerland advanced to the final when Belinda Bencic and Jakub Paul won the deciding mixed doubles against Belgium’s Elise Mertens and Zizou Bergs 6-3, 0-6, 10-5. Bencic has won all four of her singles matches and four in mixed doubles this week in the team event. Paul, who won just six tour-level doubles matches last year, hit several down-the-line winners at crucial moments to lead Switzerland into the final.
“He’s so brave it’s unbelievable,” Bencic said of Paul. “I tell him to go (for it) and he actually goes. It’s crazy.”
Bencic had extended her undefeated season-opening singles streak earlier when she beat Mertens 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (0) to put Switzerland ahead 1-0. Stan Wawrinka, who will retire at the end of this season, was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 by Bergs, a match that turned in the eighth game of the third set when Bergs broke to go up 5-3 and then held serve.
Tournament organizers started play 30 minutes earlier than scheduled with searing temperatures of up to 43 Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) in the forecast for Sydney.
Bencic was two games from a straight-sets win before Mertens pushed the match the distance. Mertens came from 3-1 down in the third set, saved a pair of break points that would have given Bencic a 4-1 lead, and was two points away from the set with Bencic serving at 30-30, down 6-5. But Bencic won the last nine points of the match following a decision to change her racket to a freshly-strung one.
“It feels like 170 kilos fell off my shoulders — I was so stressed; I really wanted to do well, and today I felt so much pressure to not let my team down,” Bencic said.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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