It was a great week for American tennis as our top players not just featured prominently in the last two tournaments of the year, but also won them in style. Tommy Paul took the Stockholm Open title, while Alison Riske won at Linz. It was Paul’s first-ever title and Riske’s third.

Paul’s run was especially impressive as he took out Taylor Fritz, Andy Murray, Frances Tiafoe, and defending champion Denis Shapovalov on his way to the title. All these players have been playing great tennis. Fritz has been on fire lately, and Tiafoe has been slowly building momentum. Let’s not forget Andy Murray who took out Sinner in this tournament and Hurkacz in the last. Those are two top ten wins by Murray.

The fact that Tommy Paul was able to come in and take those out players is truly remarkable. It shows how much talent he has when healthy. Finally, of note, the US now has four men’s players that are looking like top 10 material, Tiafoe, Paul, Fritz, and Opelka. The future certainly looks bright for these young men.

In Linz, Alison Riske cruised to her third title. The WTA veteran got a little bit of a break in her semifinal match against Danielle Collins, who had to withdraw with an injured shoulder. Additionally, she got another break because Simona Halep had to withdraw from her semifinal match against Jaqueline Cristian. Still, this doesn’t take anything away from her title. Riske took advantage of the opportunity and sealed her third title in a hard-fought final against Cristian, who was playing some inspired tennis.

As well as Riske played to capture the title, it must be mentioned that Danielle Collins also had a spectacular season and has set herself up for some deep runs at major tournaments next year. She will end the year ranked 29 in the world and can count on being seeded throughout 2022. All in all, things look good for American tennis, on the men’s side and on the women’s side.

Like always, don’t forget to jump on to the TennisPAL app to stay up to date on tennis news, find groups of friends to play with, and get a virtual coach to help with your tennis game.