Longhorn Standout Peyton Stearns Awarded ATX Open Wild Card

NCAA Champion Joins Danielle Collins and Sloane Stephens in Austin’s Inaugural WTA Event

AUSTIN, Texas — Former University of Texas standout Peyton Stearns has accepted a wild card to play the inaugural ATX Open, where she will join Danielle Collins and Sloane Stephens in the field of the Feb. 27-March 5 Hologic WTA 250 tournament at Westwood Country Club.

During her two seasons at Texas, Stearns was a member of the Longhorn teams that won back-to-back national championships while also winning the 2022 NCAA individual title. Since turning pro last summer, she has reached at least the quarterfinals at 10 of the 13 ITF tournaments she has played, including winning 12 straight matches and back-to-back titles in October. She opened this season by reaching the final at the ITF event in Naples, Fla.

Late last year, Stearns reached the semifinals at the WTA 125 in Midland, Mich., after playing her first Tour-level match as a wild card entrant at the US Open.

“Peyton committing to join us for the ATX Open is fantastic news,” said Christo Van Rensburg, DropShot Series Tournament Director. “Her career at the University of Texas was incredible and she has wasted little time finding success as a pro. Along with established WTA stars such as Danielle Collins and Sloane Stephens, we are eager to welcome rising stars such as Peyton.”

Stearns is looking forward to playing in a familiar place in front of a lot of friends. “Austin is an amazing city, and it’s definitely a tennis city,” she said. “I think the ATX Open is going to be really, really good.”

One of the ITF titles Stearns won in October was Austin’s H-E-B Women’s Pro Tennis Open, an event that, like the ATX Open, is part of the DropShot Tournament Series. Today organizers are announcing that the winner of the annual fall ITF H-E-B Women’s Pro Tennis Open will receive a wild card for the following year’s ATX Open WTA 250 tournament.

“We have a unique opportunity to connect these DropShot Tournament Series events by awarding the H-E-B Women’s Pro Tennis Open champion a wild card to the ATX Open,” Van Rensburg said. “In tennis, it is so important to make the most of your chances and we look forward to extending this opportunity to players to make Austin an important stop on the journey of their career.”

The ATX Open, with a 32-player singles draw as well as a 16-team doubles field, will be the first WTA tournament to take place in the United States during the 2023 season.

Collins was the first player to commit to the ATX Open when she attended the event’s official launch in April. The 2022 Australian Open finalist surged into the Top 10 of the WTA Rankings last season. A 28-year-old Florida native, Collins has won two WTA singles titles. She is also an NCAA singles champion, winning that title twice while playing at the University of Virginia.

Stephens has won seven titles in her career, most notably at the 2017 US Open. She reached a career high of No. 3 in 2018, a season in which she won the WTA 1000 in Miami while also finishing as runner-up at the French Open, WTA Finals and the WTA 1000 in Montreal. She has finished nine of the past 10 seasons inside the Top 40.

In October, the ATX Open unveiled renderings of the tournament’s 1,700-seat Stadium Court at Westwood Country Club.

The 2023 ATX Open will feature two daily sessions – one during the day and one in the evening – Monday, February 27 through Saturday, March 4. The tournament concludes with the singles and doubles finals on Sunday, March 5.

Full series packages starting at $450 provide the best ticket value to all 13 sessions.  Reserved single session seating starts at $20+ for the opening rounds and $75+ for Sunday’s final round. Premium single session seating starts at $55+ for the opening rounds and $125+ for Sunday’s final round.

All tickets include dedicated seating at the Stadium Match Court and access to open seating at the Grandstand Match Court on a first-come, first-served basis. Ticket holders will also be able to watch all matches and practice sessions on other courts throughout the grounds.

ATX Open tickets and packages are available now and can be purchased at ATXOpen.com/tickets.