Peyton Stearns‘ 2025 season wasn’t turning out to be anything special – until it did, this month. What a turnaround it’s been for the 23-year-old American. The World No.42 has witnessed a breakthrough campaign in Rome lately. In case you missed it, she bested this season’s Australian Open champion Madison Keys at the Italian Open before taking down four-time slam winner Naomi Osaka. And guess what? Stearns has now made it to her maiden WTA 1000 semifinal this week. While she’s set to go against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini on Thursday, it’s the perfect timing to look at the real reason behind Stearns’ turnaround. Seems like she’s got a backing of a solid figure – her coach. But who’s he?

Before uncovering the man behind her newfound success in Rome, let’s reverse time a little bit. Stearns wasn’t going through a great phase across WTA events in 2025 till last month. In fact, she witnessed back-to-back early exits in Doha, Dubai, Austin, Indian Wells, Miami, and Charleston. That time, her coach was Tom Hill. The latter joined Stearns last year, in April. Under Hill, Stearns did shine and won her first-ever WTA trophy at the Morocco Open in May 2024. Prior to his arrival, she was out of the top 80 in rankings. Currently, she’s under the top 50. Before the American player, Hill was associated with the likes of Danielle Collins (October 2017 to July 2018) and then Maria Sakkari (2018 to 2024).

Following Stearns’ underwhelming start to 2025, Hill eventually decided to leave. “After a great 12 months together, I’ve made the decision to end my coaching partnership with Peyton,” he wrote on Instagram last month. “I’m incredibly proud of everything we achieved together: Her first WTA title, career-high rankings in both singles and doubles, and her first Top 10 win. I’m very grateful to have been a part of her journey and to have seen her grow both on and off the court.” He’s reunited with Sakkari now.

So what did Stearns do next? Well, she simply reached out on social media and began scouting for a new trainer – quite literally. Soon after splitting with Hill, she wrote, “Looking for a new coach… DMs are open 🤠”

Well, she had her wish granted in next ten days. On X, she updated, “DM’s are closed 😎” while sharing a picture with former Slovenian ATP pro Blaz Kavcic. Yes, he’s her current coach. And he’s been the brains behind her invincible campaign in Rome lately.

“I was going to keep things private, but other people didn’t keep things private,” Stearns told WTA’s website few days back. “So I went to social media and had some fun with it. I got some DMs that were quite funny.” Kavcic started working with the American WTA pro before the Madrid Open where she managed to reach the R16.

Kavcic, a former World No.68, was born to Aleksander and Bojana Kavcic in 1987. He started playing tennis at the age of four. The love for sports came from the family. How? Well, his father and mother were both pro skiers. In fact, Bojana was three-time national slalom champion as well. Plus, she also participated in 1978 and 1982 World Championships. Moreover, Blaz’s grandfather Ludvik was an alpine skier at the 1956 Winter Olympics. In fact, he was the one who encouraged Kavcic to pursue the racket sport. Kavcic also has a younger sister, Masa, who’s a national and European dance champion.

Kavcic turned pro in 2005 and later accomplished a career-high ranking of No.68 in August 2012. It was a result of his impressive campaign in 2012 London Olympics where he made it to the second round. Speaking of Grand Slam, he managed to reach the third round of the 2013 Australian Open and 2014 US Open. In 2018, he eventually announced his retirement from professional tennis after playing his final match in the Davis Cup that season in September.

While he may have hung up his own racket, the Slovenian is making sure to guide other young tennis stars in achieving their goals. Peyton Stearns is the perfect example and she is really enjoying her time with Blaz, especially after going through a magical run in Rome.

Peyton Stearns exudes confidence under new coach

Entering the Italian Open last week under Kavic, Peyton Stearns began her journey with a straight-set win over Italy’s Nuria Brancaccio. Then, in R64, she edged out Russian star Anna Kalinskaya in straight sets as well. And then came the unexpected surprise of this year’s edition in Rome. Stearns pulled off the biggest upset of the event, besting 2025 Australian Open queen and compatriot Madison Keys. Although the latter snatched the first set, Stearns showed her determination and fought back strongly. The final score line read 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) in her favor.

After a sensational victory over Keys, Stearns touched upon the impact of coach Kavcic since he joined her team. “The results, of course, they show,” she said, as reported by WTA’s website on May 10. “But also my level of happiness and wanting to be out on court is much greater now. He came with a spark and has really helped me fine-tune some things in my game that needed it … When you get more confidence in certain shots, you’re able to do a lot more. Going into Madrid, I hadn’t had a lot of wins this year, but I got that confidence through him.”

The American further mentioned that before they went to Madrid, she had already made up her mind to have him full time. “Even before my first round, I was like — ‘You’re hired, I like you!'” Stearns emphasized, “We mesh really well. He’s willing to really, really work and I like to work too.”

After Keys, she also bested yet another slam winner – Japan’s Naomi Osaka in R16 in a tight three-setter. Moving into the QF stage, she emerged victorious in another crunch decider against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina to enter her first-ever WTA 1000 semifinal. When she steps on the clay court on Thursday, against Jasmine Paolini, Stearns will look to create history and enter the summit clash this weekend. Do you think she can win the trophy in Rome? Let us know in the comments below.