It’s time for the clash between two promising stars of the tennis world at the first round of the 2024 French Open! America’s Peyton Stearns takes on Croatia’s Lucija Ciric Bagaric at the Court 12 on Tuesday (May 28). Stearns had already tasted the biggest success of her career recently. On the other hand, this will be Bagaric’s first Grand Slam appearance. It’ll be interesting to see if she can put up a real challenge against the American on Parisian soil.

Peyton Stearns is entering this tournament after clinching her first WTA singles title in Rabat. She defeated Egypt’s Mayar Sherif in the finals of the 2024 Morocco Open by 6-2,6-1. Can she carry forward the winning momentum in Paris as well?

Peyton Stearns vs Lucija Ciric Bagaric: Preview

Apart from winning the title in Rabat, Peyton Stearns has reached the QF of two tournaments this year. In her previous match against Sherif, the 22-year-old American tennis sensation failed to hit even a single ace in the entire match. However, she didn’t commit any double fault. Her first serve win percentage was 66% and it crept up to 73% on the second serve. Stearns converted four out of her four breakpoints against Sherif. She has managed to hit 45 aces and committed 66 double faults this season.

Stearns has won 62.1% of her service games and 39.2% of the return games so far this year. On the other hand, her Croatian opponent has also been in good touch this year. She has won four tournaments this year and has reached one semis of another tournament this year. Bagaric is currently on a three-match winning streak in Paris. She hasn’t dropped a single set in the qualifiers. In the last match, the Croatian defeated the Japanese tennis player, Sara Saito by 7-6(5),6-1.

Lucija Ciric Bagaric hit two aces and committed two double faults in that match. Her first serve win percentage was 72%, while it was just around 52% on the second serve. She converted three out of four breakpoints against the Japanese. Bagaric began on the ITF circuit in 2021 and so far she has won 8 ITF titles in her career. She was in fact named ITF World Tennis Tour Player of the Month in February this year.

Stearns vs Bagaric: Head-to-Head

Both of them are two of the most promising stars of the tennis world. But Peyton Stearns and Lucija Ciric Bagaric haven’t yet met each other on the Tour. So, this will be their first meeting and they couldn’t have asked for a better stage to kick-start their rivalry. But who will have the last laugh in this exciting faceoff?

Prediction: Stearns to win this match in three sets

The 22-year-old Peyton Stearns is more experienced than the 20-year-old Croatian. She reached the third round of the French Open in 2023 and currently has a win-loss record of 8-10. Lucija Ciric Bagaric might have won quite a few matches on the ITF level this year, but this will be her first litmus test on the bigger stages of the game. Can she cope with the pressure of her first appearance at a major event?

Well, this remains to be one of the biggest questions in this match. But looking at her form in this tournament she might well give a tough fight to Stearns. So the American needs to be aware of facing an unfamiliar opponent. Peyton Stearns loves to play a powerful brand of tennis and swinging freely is one of the key elements in her game. She is currently ranked 62 in the world while Bagaric is ranked 184. So looking at their overall experience of playing in the bigger stages, Stearns looks slightly ahead of the Croatian tennis sensation.