Special from
Zoo Tennis
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A year ago, University of Texas sophomore Peyton Stearns was in a boot, unable to compete and unsure what the upcoming dual match season would hold for her and her teammates as they began the defense of their 2021 team title. Fast forward six months and the Longhorns had claimed back-to-back team titles, with the Stearns adding the NCAA singles title six days later.
Peyton Stearns Has Boosted Her WTA Ranking to 209
© Ben Peskar/Dow Tennis Classic
With little left to accomplish in college tennis, Stearns elected to begin her pro career. Within a few months, she picked up her first WTA Top 100 win after receiving a hometown wild card into the Western and Southern Open qualifying in Mason, Ohio. A few weeks later, Stearns battled to a near standoff with Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round of the US Open, with a net cord winner giving the 28th-seeded Russian a hard-fought 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory.
This fall, Stearns earned back-to-back titles at $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournaments in Austin, Texas and Florence, South Carolina, and while a gastrointestinal illness stalled that momentum in two subsequent tournaments, two weeks ago the 21-year-old reached the semifinals of the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland, Michigan. That result boosted her WTA ranking to a career-high of 209, after being outside the Top 500 in late June.
