WHAT HAPPENED: Marketa Vondrousova, the No. 9 seed, has been loath to give up games—let alone an entire set—at the 2023 US Open: Coming into her Round 4 match against America’s Peyton Stearns, the Czech lefty dropped just 10 games.
Although Stearns forced her opponent to give up a set, Vondrousova was victorious, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3.
For her part, Stearns advanced to the Round 4 match having won every prior set played as well. The 21-year-old Ohio native owns the 2022 NCAA women’s singles title and is in her very first full season on the pro circuit.
“She’s a very dangerous player,” said Vondrousova after the match. “She has a great future ahead of her.”
The Czech champ has an impressive trophy of her own, having won the women’s singles title at Wimbledon this year—where she defeated Stearns in the first round, their only other meeting.
As play got underway under a hot sun, Stearns looked hot, too. She aced her very first serve, hit two winners and took the game 40-15. Vondrousova seemed unsettled, dropped serve and, at the12-minute mark, found herself down 0-3. And although the No. 9 seed managed to level the set at 5-5, a rock-solid Stearns stayed ahead in the winners’ count, hitting 13 to Vondrousova’s seven. She continued to dominate in the first-set tiebreak, taking it, and the set, 7-6(3).
Vondrousova cleaned up her play in the second set, while Stearns stats slipped a bit. The half-hour set was over before the partisan crowd could catch on. The Czech took it, 6-3.
New set, new dress. Stearns, who changed into a cherry-colored Nike kit for the decider, looked frustrated—her first real sign of distress—after she lost her first service game. By contrast, Vondrousova won her first service game at love, then broke again to go up 3-0.
Would the American mount another challenge? Stearns looked defiant when she grabbed her revenge, breaking Vondrousova’s serve. But the Czech broke yet again and when serving at 4-1, seemed determined to end the match as quickly as possible. And while the American continued to hit big, she would also donate 51 errors during the match. Vondrousova won the decider, 6-3.
WHAT IT MEANS: Vondrousova's US Open quarterfinal contest—her first ever—will be played against another American, No. 17 Madison Keys. And with today’s win, Vondrousova is 6-1 against U.S. players this season, with her sole loss to Coco Gauff in Montreal.
MATCH POINT: "I've got to represent,” said Stearns, coming into the match. "We're on home soil here."
And represent she did. Stearns performed better against Vondrousova than any prior player here: Martina Trevisan, the Czech’s Round 2 opponent, comes in second in that standing, winning a total of four games, to Stearns’ 13.
"I'm early in my career," said a philosophical Stearns after the match."I'm ready to go into my next tournament, guns blazing."
