Peyton Mckenzie Stearns (born October 8, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 28, achieved on May 19, 2025 and a best in doubles of No. 46, reached on February 2, 2026. She has won two WTA Tour singles titles, as well as five singles and two doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.
Stearns played college tennis for the Texas Longhorns. In spring 2022, Stearns became the first Texas player to become the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion in women's tennis and elected to turn professional later that year.
In her first full season on tour in 2023, Stearns made her top 100 debut in April, after reaching her first WTA Tour quarterfinal at the inaugural ATX Open in March 2023, before reaching her first career final at the Copa Colsanitas the following month.
At the 2023 US Open, she made a major fourth round for the first time and, as a result, reached the top 50 in September 2023.
At the 2025 Italian Open, Stearns became the first player in the Open Era to win three consecutive WTA Tour main-draw matches in third-set tiebreaks having beaten Madison Keys, Naomi Osaka and Elina Svitolina across round 3 to quarterfinal.
College years Stearns played two seasons of college tennis at the University of Texas at Austin, where she became the first Texas player to win the NCAA Division I Women's Singles National Championship in spring 2022. She has cited the success of fellow American Danielle Collins as inspiration for helping her decide to attend college before eventually turning professional, which she elected to do in June 2022.
Career
2021–2022: WTA Tour & major debuts Stearns made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2021 Silicon Valley Classic, where she received entry as an alternate into the doubles main draw. She made her major debut as a wildcard at the 2022 US Open.
2023: WTA Tour final, major fourth round and top 50 At the inaugural ATX Open in Austin, Stearns earned her first WTA Tour win as a wildcard over qualifier Katie Boulter in a three-hour marathon. Next, she defeated fellow wildcard player Mirjam Björklund to reach her first tour quarterfinal, where she lost to Katie Volynets in straight sets. The following week, she made her main-draw debut at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open as a wildcard and overcame a set deficit to defeat Rebeka Masarova in the first round, before succumbing to Bianca Andreescu from a set up in the next round.
Stearns reached her first WTA Tour singles final at the Copa Colsanitas, after defeating Rosa Vicens Mas, Elina Avanesyan, Tamara Zidanšek and Kamilla Rakhimova. Though she fell in three sets to defending champion Tatjana Maria in the championship match, her results at the tournament propelled her into the top 100 for the first time, at world No. 89, on April 10. This also ensured Stearns a direct entry into the main draw of the 2023 French Open. Later that month, she reached the final of the LTP Charleston Pro, losing it to compatriot Emma Navarro, in three sets.
At the Morocco Open in Rabat, Stearns defeated Panna Udvardy and Leylah Fernandez to reach her third tour quarterfinal. She lost to Sloane Stephens in a third-set tiebreak, despite holding three match points.
Ranked world No. 69 at the French Open, Stearns recorded her first top-50 win, defeating No. 49 Kateřina Siniaková. She immediately followed that up with her first top-20 win, defeating former champion and 17th seed, Jeļena Ostapenko, in three sets. She was defeated by ninth seed Daria Kasatkina, in the third round.
At the US Open, she reached the fourth round defeating Viktoriya Tomova, Clara Tauson and Katie Boulter. As a result, she reached the top 50 at world No. 44, on 11 September 2023.
2024: WTA Tour title, French and US Open third rounds, WTA 1000 quarterfinal In Indian Wells, Stearns recorded her second WTA 1000 win over Elisabetta Cocciaretto. She held four match points against world No. 2, Aryna Sabalenka, in the second round but lost the match in the third set tiebreak. On her debut in the main draw at the Miami Open, she also reached the second round with a win over Wang Yafan, before losing to Victoria Azarenka.
Stearns won her maiden career title at the Rabat Grand Prix in Morocco, defeating Mayar Sherif in the final. She reached for the second consecutive time the third round at the French Open, with wins over first time major qualifier Lucija Ćirić Bagarić in three sets, and tenth seed Daria Kasatkina.
At the WTA 1000 Canadian Open in Toronto, she reached the quarterfinals for the first time at this level, defeating Anna Blinkova, and then upsetting seventh seed Madison Keys and 12th seed Victoria Azarenka, both matches by retirement. She lost to third seed and eventual champion Jessica Pegula.
Ranked No. 47 at the US Open, she again reached the third round defeating Lesia Tsurenko and upsetting 12th seed Daria Kasatkina to set up a meeting with 24th seed Donna Vekić which she lost in straight sets.
2025: First WTA 1000 semifinal and top-10 wins In February, at the Dubai Championships, Stearns defeated Ons Jabeur in the first round and then overcame world No. 8, Zheng Qinwen, in three sets to record her first win against a top-10 ranked player. She lost in the third round to 12th seed Mirra Andreeva in a match played later on the same day as her encounter with Zheng due to rain interruptions setting the tournament schedule back.
In April, at the Madrid Open, Stearns defeated Kimberly Birrell, 15th seed Amanda Anisimova and qualifier Rebeka Masarova to reach the fourth round, where she lost to world No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka. At the next WTA 1000, the Italian Open, Stearns reached back-to-back fourth rounds with an upset over fifth seed Madison Keys. Next she defeated Naomi Osaka to reach her second WTA 1000 quarterfinal and first on clay. Stearns then overcame 16th seed Elina Svitolina to make it through to her first WTA 1000 semifinal, which she lost to sixth seed, and eventual champion, Jasmine Paolini.
2026: Second WTA Tour title At the Australian Open, Stearns defeated Sofia Kenin and Petra Marčinko to reach the third round, at which point her run was ended by world No. 3, Amanda Anisimova.
Seeded fourth at the ATX Open, she recorded wins over Francesca Jones, Kaja Juvan, Oksana Selekhmeteva and Kimberly Birrell to make it through to the final. Stearns won the championship match against Taylor Townsend to claim her second WTA Tour title.
In September at the Guadalajara Open, she defeated Emiliana Arango, fourth seed Diane Parry, wildcard entrant Sloane Stephens and eighth seed Liudmila Samsonova to reach the final,.where she lost to second seed and defending champion Iva Jovic.
Performance timelines Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.
Singles Current through the 2026 Guadalajara Open.
Tournament202120222023202420252026Win %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAA1R1R3R0 / 32–3French OpenAA3R3R1R3R0 / 46–4WimbledonAA1R1R1R1R0 / 40–4US OpenQ11R4R3R2R0 / 46–4Win–loss0–00–15–34–41–44–30 / 1514–15WTA 1000Qatar OpenNTIANTI1R2R1R0 / 31–3Dubai ChampionshipsANTIA2R3R2R0 / 34–3Indian Wells OpenQ2A2R2R1R1R0 / 42–4Miami OpenAAQ22R2R2R0 / 33–3Madrid OpenAAA1R4R2R0 / 34–3Italian OpenAAAASF2R0 / 26–2Canadian OpenAA1RQF1R0 / 33–3Cincinnati OpenQ1Q21R1R2R0 / 31–3Guadalajara OpenNHA1RNTI0 / 10–1China OpenNH1R3R1R0 / 32–3Wuhan OpenNHAA0 / 00–0Win–loss0–00–01–58–813–94–60 / 2826–28Career statistics202120222023202420252026Win %Tournaments0214222110Career total: 35Titles000101Career total: 1Finals001101Career total: 2Hard win–loss0–00–28–1013–158–1511–71 / 5040–49Clay win–loss0–00–08–37–48–43–31 / 1526–14Grass win–loss0–00–00–11–21–20–00 / 52–5Overall win–loss0–00–216–1421–2117–2114–102 / 7068–68Win %Career total: Year-end ranking392209534863$4,382,845
Doubles Current through the 2026 Guadalajara Open.
Tournament2021202220232024Win %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAA2R0 / 11–1French OpenAA2R1R0 / 21–2WimbledonAA1R2R0 / 21–2US OpenA1R1R2R0 / 31–3Win–loss0–00–11–33–40 / 84–8WTA 1000Qatar OpenNTIANTIA0 / 00–0Dubai ChampionshipsANTIAA0 / 00–0Indian Wells OpenAA2RA0 / 11–1Miami OpenAA1RA0 / 10–1Madrid OpenAAAA0 / 00–0Italian OpenAAAA0 / 00–0Canadian OpenAAA2R0 / 11–1Cincinnati Open1RA2R2R0 / 32–3Guadalajara OpenNHA2RNTI0 / 11–1China OpenNHSFA0 / 13–1Wuhan OpenNHA0 / 00–0Win–loss0–10–06–52–20 / 88–8Career statisticsTournaments22910Career total: 23Overall win–loss0–21–28–96–100 / 2115–21Year-end ranking538266101
WTA Tour finals
Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups) LegendWTA 500 (0–1)WTA 250 (2–1)Finals by surfaceHard (1–1)Clay (1–1)Finals by settingOutdoor (2–2)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Copa Colsanitas, ColombiaWTA 250Clay Tatjana Maria3–6, 6–2, 4–6Win1–1Rabat Grand Prix, MoroccoWTA 250Clay Mayar Sherif6–2, 6–1Win2–1ATX Open, USWTA 250Hard Taylor Townsend7–6(10–8), 7–5Loss2–2Guadalajara Open, MexicoWTA 500Hard Iva Jovic4–6, 2–6
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 9 (5 titles, 4 runner-ups) LegendW100 tournaments (0–1)W60 tournaments (1–0)W25 tournaments (4–3)Finals by surfaceHard (5–2)Clay (0–2)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Oct 2019ITF Florence, USW25 Hard Claire Liu 1–6, 2–6Win 1–1 Jun 2021ITF Sumter, USW25 Hard Fernanda Contreras 6–1, 6–2Loss 1–2 Jul 2022ITF Columbus, USW25 Hard Katrina Scott 5–7, 3–6Win 2–2 Oct 2022ITF Austin, USW25 Hard Clervie Ngounoue 6–1, 6–0Win 3–2 Oct 2022ITF Florence, USW25 Hard Alexandra Vecic 6–7(4), 6–2, 7–5Loss 3–3 Jan 2023ITF Naples, USW25 Clay Emma Navarro 3–6, 5–7Win 4–3 Jan 2023ITF Orlando, USW25 Hard Robin Montgomery 6–2, 6–0Win 5–3 Feb 2023Georgia's Rome Open, USW60 Hard (i) Gabriela Knutson 3–6, 6–0, 6–2Loss 5–4 Apr 2023LTP Charleston Pro, USW100 Clay Emma Navarro 6–2, 2–6, 5–7
Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up) LegendW60 tournaments (1–1)W25 tournaments (1–0)Finals by surfaceHard (2–0)Clay (0–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Jun 2021LTP Charleston Pro, USW60 Clay Rasheeda McAdoo Fanny Stollár Aldila Sutjiadi 0–6, 4–6Win 1–1 Jun 2022ITF Sumter, USW25 Hard Kylie Collins Allura Zamarripa Maribella Zamarripa 6–3, 5–7, [10–7]Win 2–1 Sep 2022Berkeley Tennis Challenge, USW60 Hard Elvina Kalieva Allura Zamarripa Maribella Zamarripa 7–6(5), 7–6(5)
Head-to-head record
Record against top 10 players Stearns has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
#OpponentRkEventSurfaceScoreRef20251. Zheng Qinwen8Dubai Open, UAEHard2R3–6, 6–4, 6–4462. Madison Keys6Italian Open, ItalyClay3R2–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–3)42
Notes
References
External links