Cincinnati native Peyton Stearns captures 1st career WTA singles title in Rabat

Cincinnati native Peyton Stearns broke through Saturday in the Morocco Open in Rabat.

The 22-year-old captured her first WTA singles title with a straight-set victory (6-2, 6-1) over Egypt's Mayar Sherif (No. 66). It was her second career championship appearance in singles after falling to Tatjana Maria in the Bogota Final in April 2023.

Stearns, a 2022 national champion at the University of Texas and the World No. 81, cruised to the title in a match that lasted just 72 minutes.

Her path to the final was a different story as Stearns had to overcome a 5-0 third-set deficit in the quarterfinals, eventually winning seven consecutive games and surviving a pair of match points to beat Lucia Bronzetti.

In the semifinals, Stearns beat Viktoriya Tomova 6-7 (6), 7-5, 7-6 (4) in a marathon match that lasted over three hours.