Peyton Stearns becomes first woman to achieve remarkable feat at WTA Tour level
Peyton Stearns has reached the semi-final of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time and she notched up a couple of achievements in the process, including one peculiar first at WTA Tour level.
The world No 42 has claimed some big scalps at the 2025 Italian Open as she defeated 28th seed Anna Kalinskaya in the second round, fifth seed Madison Keys in the third round, former world No 1 Naomi Osaka in the fourth round and 16th seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-final.
With her run to the last four, Stearns will make her top 30 debut when the WTA Rankings are updated on Monday as she will jump to No 26.
The 23-year-old faces sixth seed Jasmine Paolini next and if she gets past the Italian she will be on the cusp of the top 20 as she will move up to No 23.
Stearns’ unique feat
With her three wins over Keys, Osaka and Svitolina in Rome, the American achieved a remarkable record that no other woman has managed at WTA Tour level.
Yes, not even all-time greats like Martina Hingis, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Serena Williams and Venus Williams have done it. Or even current Grand Slam winners Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Keys.
Stearns defeated Keys 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), Osaka was beaten 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4) while she saw off Svitolina with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) scoreline in a match that finished 01:00 local time.
And with that came a new record as, according to OPTA Ace, “Stearns is the first player to win three WTA-level matches in a row via a third-set tie break during the Open Era”.
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This is only the second time that Stearns has made it past the fourth round of a WTA 1000 tournament with the previous best performance a quarter-final appearance in Canada in 2024.
The American has one WTA Tour singles title to her name as she won the Rabat Grand Prix in Morocco last May while she finished runner-up at the Copa Colsanitas in Colombia in 2023.
She had an 11-11 win-loss record before the Italian Open, but has improved to 15-11 with her five wins in Rome.
Despite her Rome feat, Stearns knows she is unlikely to have any support at Foro Italico when she faces local favourite Paolini for a place in the final.
“I don’t expect many people to be cheering for me,” she said after finishing in the early hours of Wednesday morning. “But that’s ok, I played college tennis so… I’m used to it.”