Two years after her first WTA singles title in Rabat, Peyton Stearns collected a second trophy much closer to home by winning the ATX Open. The former University of Texas standout had lost in the first round of her adopted home event in each of the last two years, but completed a goal she has pursued since the WTA 250 was added to the calendar in 2023.

In 2023 she won her first WTA main-draw match in Austin and reached the quarterfinals as a wild card less than a year after lifting the NCAA Division I national singles trophy. This week she snapped a three-match skid at the tournament by coming from a set down to beat Brit Francesca Jones in round one.

After that match Stearns admitted that she thought “it would be nice for a Longhorn to win this tournament, finally.

“So hopefully I’m the first,” she said.

Stearns won three of her five matches in three sets. In the final she saved a trio of set points in the opening set before closing out a 7-6(8), 7-5 victory over Taylor Townsend. Townsend was contesting her first tour-level singles final at the age of 29.

Townsend had earlier erased a 4-0 first-set deficit in the semifinals against Ashlyn Krueger. In the title match Townsend held two set points on return at 5-3, and after Stearns rallied to force a tiebreaker the left-hander left her third chance on the table at 8-7 after erasing Stearns’ 6-3 lead.

Stearns also survived tight early tests during the week, including saving match point in the first round against Linda Fruhvirtova as she accumulated wins despite not having advanced past a tour-level quarterfinal before this week. The final was the second straight all-American title match in Austin, following Jessica Pegula’s win over McCartney Kessler for the 2025 crown. Both home contenders will see meaningful ranking gains ahead of the Sunshine Double.

Evan King’s path back to the tour was anything but linear. The former Michigan standout left professional tennis in 2014 and returned to Ann Arbor to coach, only to feel “the itch to compete again.” His four seasons at Michigan left him ranked second in all-time singles and combined wins and a two-time Big Ten Athlete of the Year, but early pro setbacks convinced him he needed to change his approach.

“I just wasn’t handling losing every week right,” King told TENNIS.com when reflecting on the early part of his career. After serving as a Volunteer Assistant Coach between 2014-2016 he recommitted to training and adopted a stricter work ethic. King recalls a clear turning point after a 6-1 loss to Dennis Novolo that forced him to confront his routine. “I decided to go after it again and do it in the correct way,” King said. “If I lost a match, not just taking the next day off. ‘No, get your ass back on the practice court and keep building and keep growing.”

The reset paid dividends. Back on a full schedule in 2016, King reached four Futures finals and won two consecutive events. He returned to tour-level draws in 2017 at Los Cabos and the US Open. While his singles peak came at 185, his results were stronger in doubles: from 2016-2020 he won 16 doubles titles, including the 2016 Monterey Challenger with Dennis Kudla, a 2017 victory with Christopher Eubanks and the 2019 Monterrey Challenger with Nathan Pasha.

King shifted to a primarily doubles focus in 2021, capturing Challenger titles in Zagreb and Biella and reaching the US Open third round. Between 2021 and 2023 he collected thirteen Challenger titles and cracked the Top 100. At 33, his 2025 season paired him with Christian Harrison; after agreeing to five events they won the ATP Dallas 500 in their third tournament, reached the Delray Beach 250 final, won the Acapulco 500 and made deep runs at Indian Wells and Roland Garros. “So then it’s like, boom, we are now a partnership. Obviously, we’re partners before, but now we’re locked in,” King said.

King also highlights the value of the Black tennis community: “It’s not too many of us out there. So you automatically have a little bit of bond on shared experiences…kind of get to know all the black dudes that are your same age range and hang out with them, compete with them, cheer for them.” He now partners with Jonathan Peers and remains convinced his best tennis is still ahead.

Matthew Forbes arrived at Michigan State already notable for milestones and temperament. The 2024 USTA Boys’ 18s National Champion became the first active Spartan to play in the US Open main draw, then returned to college tennis with a louder voice and clearer purpose.

On court he is unmistakable: a pronounced “venga” after a forehand winner, a bellowed “yeah” following a T serve, and a proud “Go Green” after clinching NCAA match wins as a sophomore. At the 2024 US Open an 18-year-old Forbes pushed Roman Safiulin to a second-set tiebreak before falling in straight sets. After that match he drew attention for an emphatic celebration that then spread on social media.

“I think that was probably the best thing that’s happened to me,” Forbes said about his US Open experience. He also reflected on watching the match back: “I watched the match for the first time maybe a month or two ago. It was probably the hardest thing I had to watch, like I couldn’t.”

Forbes endured a difficult stretch before Kalamazoo, failing to string together more than two wins at an event and deciding to decommit from UNC Chapel Hill before joining MSU. That frustration fed a new edge he now channels on court. His family background and upbringing in Raleigh helped shape his confidence; his sister Abbey traces their start back to Wii Sports and their grandmother Theresa Hamilton’s love for the sport after immigrating from Jamaica.

“When people say that Matthew is cocky and arrogant, I call that a cop out. You’re making a judgment based off of who you want him to be, because what [they] don’t want to see is a person who is confident in themselves while being Black,” Abigail said. Abbey also emphasized Matthew’s motivation: “The reason why Matthew cares so much is because he watched his brother look death in the face and say, ‘No, thanks,’” Abbey explains.

On the court and in the program, Forbes has produced results. As the highest-ranked true freshman in the 2024 fall he went 20-12 and earned MSU’s first Big Ten Freshman of the Week. His fall performances placed him at No.3 in the ITA rankings coming into the spring season and he occupies the top spot at Michigan State.

“He’s got a big heart. What you see in a split second for sure isn’t indicative of the kind of person he is,” Flowers said. “He’s a good dude. He’s one of the good guys, that’s for sure.”