Stearns on bubble-wrapped trophy & ‘Pebbles’ the maltipoo

By Grant Thompson

Peyton Stearns sits down for a pre-tournament media roundtable, calmly fielding questions while her two-year-old maltipoo, Pebbles, is nestled in her lap.

For a 24-year-old who spends much of her year globetrotting on the WTA Tour, there is a certain comfort about being home. And Pebbles seems just as happy.

“It’s super nice. I think Pebbles likes it as well,” Stearns said with a smile, speaking on her homecoming. “We get to sleep in our own bed. It’s definitely something special, and to see the tournament evolve the last couple years — it’s crazy to happen in my backyard, essentially.”

Stearns attended the Cincinnati Open as a child and now is set to make her fourth consecutive main-draw appearance. She has learned to embrace the energy of playing at home. Early on, playing in such an atmosphere could feel like a “pressure valve”. Now, she sees the home crowd as fuel.

“If I’m down 0-6, 0-5, they are going to help push me to the finish line,” Stearns said of the fan support.

One of Stearns’ career highlights came earlier this season, on March 1, when she captured the WTA 250 title in Austin, a city that has become a second home. Stearns won the 2022 NCAA singles crown while representing the University of Texas and helped lead the Longhorns to back-to-back team titles. After two seasons in burnt orange, Stearns turned pro.

Returning to the Texas capital this year, Stearns added another piece of Austin hardware to her collection. This time she lifted a one-of-a-kind hand-blown glass trophy that required tender care in getting it safely home.

“I actually shipped it,” said Stearns, who beat Taylor Townsend in the Austin final. “It’s at my house. I shipped it home, it was very bubble wrapped. I made sure it was packaged tight.”

One of Stearns’ main takeaways from that title run was what it revealed about her progress, noting: “I think it just shows the depth of my game and also that week, I felt like some matches I didn’t play my best tennis, but it also shows that my bad tennis level has been raised to a point where [I can succeed].”

Among those to congratulate Stearns on her title run was actor Matthew McConaughey, an Austin icon and tennis fanatic.

“Longhorn Peyton Stearns wins ATX Open,” McConaughey wrote on X at the time. “Top level match and run to the trophy.”

Stearns is not the only tennis player in her family making a splash. Her brother, Preston, is entering his redshirt senior year at Ohio State University. The siblings look forward to seeing ‘P. Stearns & P. Stearns’ on the scoreboard for US Open mixed doubles, should they receive a wild card or a spot in qualifying.

However, a month’s time from now, Peyton and Preston will become rivals for one day when the Longhorns and Buckeyes clash in a highly anticipated college football showdown.

“I really hope Texas wins because otherwise I will not hear the end of it,” Peyton said, cracking a laugh.

Stearns’ mother, Denise, is a University of Texas graduate.

“My mom has to play the middleman, of course, because she is our mom,” Peyton added. “She’ll wear Texas gear with maybe an Ohio State hat, or she’ll wear Ohio State gear and throw some ‘Hook ‘Em’s’. She’s always joking, ‘I need to get a split shirt of Ohio State and Texas’.”

Stearns, the No. 57 player in the WTA Rankings, is popular not only among the Cincinnati fans, but also with her tour colleagues who turn to her this week for local recommendations.

“I think a lot of the Europeans are very confused because I went to school in Austin, but I’m from here,” Stearns said. “So they’re like, ‘Wait, you’re not from Texas?’ It’s so cool when they come and they’re like, ‘Where do I go?’”

When fellow players ask the Ohio native for suggestions, Stearns has her go-tos.

“I always say Tony’s Steakhouse is a great one. Two Cities Pizza. You have to go to the Loveland Bike Trail,” Stearns said. “I always tell them, ‘You have to go down to Newport on the Levee’, that type of thing. Greater’s Ice Cream. It usually depends on who’s asking. I try to show them little gems that Chat GPT can’t tell you about.”

Pebbles in her arms. Graeter’s in hand. Stearns is in paradise.