Known for her ‘never-give-up’ attitude and her aggressive style of play, the 23-year-old American Peyton Stearns lost her way a bit in the early phases of the 2024 season. She was struggling to find her footing, and a string of tough losses took a mental toll on her. During those tough moments, her compatriot, Danielle Collins, shared a few words of encouragement with the youngster. Highlighting all of this in an interview in April 2025, Stearns revealed that Collins said, “Your career is long and just starting. You’re going to have highs and lows, and you just have to ride them out…You can go from a losing streak to a winning streak. Just keep going.” Even this year, Stearns hasn’t been at her best so far, winning just 13 of her 24 matches. But she has been in a ‘Giant-Killing’ mode in Rome. After defeating the 2025 AO champion, Madison Keys, in the R32, she has now taken down the four-time Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka, in a grueling three-setter in the R16. What did she say about this 2 hours 41 minutes duel at the Italian Open in her post-match interview?

As resilient as the ‘Danimal’! Peyton Stearns defeated the former world number one, Naomi Osaka, by 6-4,3-6,7-6(4). With this incredible fightback against Osaka, Stearns has now become the first player in the Open Era to win consecutive matches in Rome in deciding tiebreaks. Speaking about this victory, she said, “Pretty cool. I feel like before here and Madrid, in third sets I was coming out on the short end of it. It’s nice to finally be on the flipside even in these tight tiebreaks. Mentally, it’s just being confident and trusting myself..” Both these players fought pretty hard to get the better of the other, and in fact, the ninth game of the third set was a mini thriller in itself.

However, amid all these, Stearns was spotted struggling with her health during the course of the match. She was having some cramps in the deciding set, but despite all these, she showcased enormous resilience to win this battle. “I think the tiebreaker, I was just trying not to throw up in the middle of the court. I wasn’t feeling the best, but I dug so deep. I don’t think that I’ve dug that deep in a while. So it was a great match,” she said in her post-match interview. Even during her interview with Tennis Channel, she was asked to reflect a bit on how taxing it was for her to be in this grueling contest. In reply to that, she said, “Yeah, I’m very tired right now.” She spoke about how well Osaka kept on fighting in this match and talking about her own struggles, she added, “I think you know I couldn’t let the nerves and everything settle because I was so focused on not throwing up.”

It was a hot day in Rome, and the third set alone was almost 82 minutes! Did the harsh climatic conditions and the intensity of this match add more to her tiredness? “Yeah, I think it was everything. I mean, we were battling like it was a very physical match. There was no point, I think, throughout the match where either one of us really let down, and I think in the first set, you know, I broke her to win the set, and in the second set, she broke me. I mean that doesn’t happen very often, and we maintained that level of high-level tennis throughout the match and it showed these kinds of matches are where it’s just so taxing on the body. I mean either players could k-ll over at any moment. That’s how brutal it was.“

Stearns showed incredible resilience despite battling the nausea late in the match. However, almost immediately after sealing the victory, she got behind the umpire’s chair to throw up onto the floor. Further highlighting her incredible resilience, Peyton Stearns said, “You know if I can go through physical taxing things off the court, then I can make it through there and I’m the kind of player that I won’t quit, you know..You’re going to have to wheel me off the court in order for me to quit. So I’ll keep going.“

Even after her previous match against Madison Keys, Stearns revealed how digging deep earned her the victory in the previous match. Seeing her performance against some of these top players, it seems as if she loves taking down ‘big fish’. Interestingly, her incredible fight back in the R16 of the Italian Open had also earned praise from her opponent.

Peyton Stearns’ incredible performance earns praise from her opponent, Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka won eight matches in a row on what has been her least favorite surface. However, her incredible run came to an end by a fine margin at the hands of America’s Peyton Stearns. Following this defeat, Osaka admitted, “I think Peyton played very well. It was a physical match and maybe the consecutive matches caught up to me a bit. Going to rest for a bit and reset for Roland Garros.” Just a few days ago, she won her first title since becoming a mother at a WTA 125K event in Saint-Malo. But does this loss add more to her concerns ahead of the French Open?

“I feel much more confident on clay. Winning my first clay title and winning some tough matches helps instill some confidence ahead of Roland Garros,” said the Japanese. After this match, even her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, penned down a message for her and congratulated her opponent for the win. In his IG post, the Frenchman wrote, “What a ride @naomiosaka! 9 matches in a row and one title. Always disappointing to lose, but it was a great ride. Congrats to @peystearns for the match. A deserved rest now, and let’s get back at it!“

So while Osaka will be heading to Paris for her next mission, Peyton Stears has already started to gear herself up for yet another blockbuster clash in Rome. She will take on the two-time champion Elina Svitolina in the QF. This will be their first meeting on the Tour. Who will have the last laugh in their first encounter?