When Roberto Ortega joined forces with Peyton Stearns in March, it seemed like a step in the right direction. Their journey began with Stearns winning the ATX Open in Austin just three weeks into the partnership, and things looked good as she reached the third round of the French Open.

However, the grass court season told a very different story. Stearns exited the Eastbourne Open in the qualifying rounds before suffering another first-round defeat at SW19. As a result, just ahead of her Memphis Open campaign, she has decided to put faith in Venus Williams’ former coach in hopes of pulling her out of this slumber.

The WTA world No. 58 has appointed veteran coach David Witt, who guided Jessica Pegula to world No. 3 and most recently coached Aleks Kovacevic. Before that tenure, he spent more than a decade working alongside the American icon Venus Williams.

The American has struggled to find consistency in her form with different voices around her due to a streak of coaching changes. This traces back to March 2026, when Stearns parted ways with coach Rafael Font de Mora two months after he was accused of alleged misconduct by the WTA.

However, with Witt on the team, Stearns now turns her attention to the WTA 250 event. She is set to face 23-year-old American Mary Stoiana in her opening match. This will be the second meeting between Peyton Stearns and Mary Stoiana. The former world No. 28 leads the H2H record 1-0.

The last time both players faced each other was in the first round of the W25 Fort Worth in 2022, where Stearns came from behind to win in three sets.

As both players get ready to face each other on Court 2 tomorrow, Stearns will be hoping this latest move finally brings some long-term stability.

When Peyton Stearns hunted for a new coach on social media

Font de Mora stuck around with Peyton Stearns for about three months. But before that as well, her record of coaching changes have not been uneventful.

Last year, after a partnership of almost one year, Stearns ended her coaching partnership with Tom Hill in April. Soon after, the American took the news in stride and turned to social media. 

“Looking for a new coach… DMs are open,” she added on X. “I play tennis and need a coach.”

Despite her lighthearted approach, the search for a new coach soon continued. It eventually led her to a temporary arrangement with Blaž Kavčič. However, the world No. 58 did not find Kavčič through X.

Now, as Stearns is preparing to compete at the WTA 250 event with a new coach, it marks another chapter in her coaching journey, which will hopefully find better success than the previous ones.