NCAA Champion Peyton Stearns reaches Bogota SF in first WTA Tour clay appearance

2022 NCAA Champion Peyton Stearns has made a roaring start to her WTA claycourt career.

Stearns, the first woman in Texas Women's Tennis history to win the NCAA singles title, entered the 2023 Copa Colsanitas in Bogota, Colombia on the back of early exits at the Indian Wells (second round) and Miami Open (second round of qualifiers). However, the youngster has turned the tides in her favor with an exceptional performance in Bogota.

Stearns breezed past the likes of Rosa Vicens Mas and Elina Avanesyan en route to the quarterfinals and then secured a remarkable comeback win against Tamara Zidansek to reach the last four.

The 21-year-old has put in the hard yards in the last few years and is slowly finding her best potential on the main tour. She's off to a positive start this season, garnering 23 wins from 28 matches and title winning runs at W25 Orlando and W60 Rome. Stearns also reached the quarterfinals of the ATX Open in Austin before succumbing to a hardfought 5-7, 3-6 loss against Katie Volynets.

The American has caught the eye of tennis critics around the world with impressive performances against the top players on tour. She managed to take a set off Ekaterina Alexandrova at the US Open last year and Bianca Andreescu at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open.

Stearns was also recently invited to the Universal Tennis Foundation Hurd Awards. The Hurd family provides assistance to young college athletes who are transitioning from college competitions to high-level international tournaments.

The youngster was awarded a $100,000 prize for her consistent achievements in high-school and college-level tennis. She was super excited to receive the award and hoped to set up a team for herself that could help her perform better in the future.

“I was super excited to hear that I was the 2023 Hurd Award winner. My first thought was I can do something, I can get a phyisio. I can get a team around me which is huge. To get a team that cares for what I’m doing on court and off is great," Peyton Stearns said.

Peyton Stearns to square off against Kamilla Rakhimova in the semifinals of the Copa Colsanitas

Peyton Stearns in action on the main tour

Peyton Stearns will take on Kamilla Rakhimova in the semifinals of the Copa Colsanitas on Sunday. The duo have never faced each other on the main tour and their head-to-head is locked at 0-0.

Both players have only dropped one set in the tournament so far. The Russian Rakhimova is also coming off a title-winning run in Bogota after capturing the W60 Irapuato in February.

The youngsters will be eager to secure a place in the final and will put their best foot forward on Saturday. The winner of this tie could square off against either Francesca Jones or Tatjana Maria in the title-decider.