Peyton Stearns is the first player in the Open Era to win three consecutive WTA matches in third-set tiebreakers
Madison Keys, Naomi Osaka and, on Tuesday, Elina Svitolina were all 7-6'd their way out of Rome.
Last year, in the tournament Peyton Stearns played before Roland Garros, she won the title in improbable fashion. In the quartefinals of the Rabat Grand Prix in Morocco, the American trailed Lucia Bronzetti 0-5 in the third set—then won seven straight games. It made her subsequent semifinal win, 6-7 (6), 7-5, 7-6 (4) over Viktoriya Tomova in three hours and 15 minutes, somehow seem undramatic.
This year, in the tournament Stearns is playing before Roland Garros, she is in the midst of another mind-blowing run.
The 23-year-old began her Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome with a pair of routine wins, but since then it's been anything but straightforward. On Saturday, she defeated Australian Open champion Madison Keys 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3). On Monday, she defeated four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4). And on Tuesday, she defeated No. 16 seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4).
In doing so, Stearns became the first player in the Open Era to win three consecutive WTA main-draw matches in third-set tiebreakers.
If Stearns is to extend her record run to four 7-6 in-the-third wins, it will come against home favorite Jasmine Paolini. The No. 6 seed and 2024 runner-up at Roland Garros and Wimbledon defeated Diana Shnaider by the relatively pedestrian score of 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2.
Asked about the challenge of facing the crowd favorite, Stearns took it in stride.
"I don’t expect many people to be cheering for me," she told the WTA on court, after 1 a.m. local time. "But that’s ok, I played college tennis so… I’m used to it."