Peyton Stearns Won The Match In The French Open’s First Round
Stearns won her opening-round match at the French Open on Monday. A year ago, Stearns became the first Texas woman to win the NCAA singles championship while helping the Longhorns win the team championship.
Stearns, who was competing in her maiden Grand Slam, upset Katerina Siniakova 7-6 (9-7), 6-2, and will next play either No. 17 seed Jelena Ostapenko or Tereza Martincova this week in the second round.
Stearns has been on a roll since she earned her maiden WTA-tour victory en route to the quarterfinals at the ATX Open in February at Westwood Country Club.
She advanced past qualification in the Miami Open and the second round of the BNP Paribas Open, two of the more significant non-Grand Slam tournaments on the circuit, before reaching the finals of the WTA 250 Copa Colsanitas on clay in Bogota, Colombia, in early April.
Later in April, she advanced to the final of an ITF tournament in Charleston, South Carolina, the lowest tier of the professional circuit, raising her point total to a level that qualified her for direct entrance into the French Open.
The WTA 250 Grand Prix Son Altesse Royale La Princesse Lalla Meryem, held in Rabat, Morocco, last week, saw her reach the quarterfinals.
This season, she has an 11-3 record on clay. Stearns has increased the rankings by over 500 points since becoming a pro in June last year.
She was rated 69th in the French Open, but after winning, she moved to No. 61 in the live rankings.
