Mason's Peyton Stearns wins qualifying match at Western & Southern Open tennis

Though she's heard her share of cheers before, none were sweeter than Saturday's afternoon's roar at Center Court when Peyton Stearns of Mason won her qualifying match against Varvara Gracheva of Russia, 6-2, 6-2.

Those who may have been outside the stadium watching players like Cincinnati's J.J. Wolf practice, quickly turned their heads to hear the excitement emanating from the Lindner Tennis Center's big stage. The stadium announcer briefly interviewed Stearns, who mentioned she had one post-match request.

"Graeter's!" the 20-year-old said.

Among the hometown hitters being cheered at this week's Western & Southern Tennis Open, Stearns comes highly decorated.

She was the NCAA singles champion for the Texas Longhorns in addition to being the Big 12 Player of the Year. Add to that she was a three-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American, the 2022 ITA Player of the Year and had a 33-2 singles record for the Longhorns. Career-wise in two seasons in Austin she was 51-10 in singles and 42-17 in doubles. The Longhorns were NCAA team champions in both of her seasons.

Stearns has a long way to go as a pro with a current ranking of No. 354 but seems to be adjusting to the pro circuit quickly after so much success wearing the burnt orange of Texas. Though used to cheers, Saturday's reaction was different.

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"It's a lot different because the people cheering for me here I know them," Stearns said. "It's more personal."

Though she attended St. Margaret of York through eighth grade her tennis talents called for her to be home-schooled in order to achieve the ranking needed to get to the top levels of the game. She started playing at 11 but never played locally at Mason, a team that has won five straight state team titles.

"We would have been dominant," Mason coach Mike Reid said. "She had a pretty demanding tournament schedule. She could have played but the OHSAA doesn't allow playing tournaments during the season. So, playing high school tennis may have hindered her development."

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Stearns actually grew up going to Kings Island and coming to the Western & Southern Open. She even was part of a coin toss before a match way before she picked up a racquet.

"I think it was more like a dream at the time," Stearns said of eventually playing in the noted tourney.

Her tennis travels have taken her to Wimbledon where she faced Madeira's Caty McNally in the junior tournament to Australia to numerous stops in the U.S. Next up is the U.S. Open in New York. However, none compare to Mason where she can hit up the Deerfield Township Graeter's Ice Cream store.

"Black raspberry chip," she said of her flavor of choice. "It's so good! It's the best."

Stearns is back at it Sunday taking on Taylor Townsend, another qualifier. That match will be sometime after 2 p.m. on the Stadium 3 court.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mason's Peyton Stearns advances to main draw at W&S Open tennis