Sloane Stephens wins WTA clay-court title in France; Taylor Fritz reaches Munich final

After winning the Charleston doubles title alongside Ashlyn Krueger to kickstart her clay-court season, Sloane Stephens claimed her first red-clay singles crown Sunday in Rouen, France. The sixth-seeded American capped her run at the WTA 250 with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Magda Linette, recovering after her streak of nine consecutive sets won was snapped in the final.

After losing the opening set of her campaign to countrywoman Peyton Stearns, Stephens caught fire to reach the championship without losing another set. In her dominant run, she also beat Karolina Pliskova, fourth seed Yuan Yue and second seed Caroline Garcia.

"Coming here was kind of a last-minute decision, so I'm really happy to be through and win another title," Stephens said after her first tournament outside the U.S. since February. "It's my first title indoors, I think, so that's really nice and really cool, and just a really nice way to start off the clay-court swing."

The Rouen title—Stephens' first since her Guadalajara triumph in February 2022—is her eighth WTA singles title and her fifth at the 250 level. The 2017 US Open champion, a former world No. 3, moved up six places to No. 33 in the WTA rankings behind the result.

Against Linette, a crucial hold through four deuces at 1-1 in the third set helped Stephens regain control of the final. She seized that momentum to surge ahead 5-1 before clinching the title one game later on her third match point.

The American will bid to back up her trophy run with more success at the Madrid WTA 1000, where she opens against Italy's Martina Trevisan.

Facing Garin in his seventh tour-level semifinal on clay, Fritz won without a facing a break point to break through for his first final on the dirt.

"It is really cool [to reach the final]," Fritz said. "I have been really close to a clay-court final a couple of times."

American Mitchell Krueger also reached a final last week at the USTA Pro Circuit ATP Challenger 75 event in Tallahassee, Fla. The 30-year-old beat Stefan Kozlov, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, in an all-American semifinal but was edged by second seed Zizou Bergs, 6-4, 7-6(9), in Sunday's final. 

Former University of North Carolina start William Blumberg finished as runner-up in the Tallahassee doubles event, teaming with Colombia's Luis David Martinez to form the top-seeded duo.