Peyton Stearns switches from Lululemon to Nike outfit mid-match at US Open

WATCH: Breaking Down The Match Kits At The US Open | The Break

NEW YORK—It’s not uncommon to see players changing outfits during a bathroom break or swapping their shirts during a changeover, especially on a hot and humid day.

But changing the entire kit from one sponsor’s outfit to another? That’s a whole different thing entirely—and it’s what American player Peyton Stearns did mid-way through her fourth-round match at the US Open.

As the Cincinnati native faced No. 9 seed Marketa Vondrousova, the reigning Wimbledon champion, on Louis Armstrong Stadium, fans watching at home were thrown off when they saw the 21-year-old leave the court wearing Lululemon and return in a new Nike outfit.

“Unsponsored life,” Stearns explained on social media, after receiving multiple questions about her mid-match makeover.

Although she currently has no apparel sponsor, the 21-year-old is frequently seen competing in Nike apparel—including at her home tournament the Western & Southern Open and through her opening rounds at the US Open.

But on Monday against Vondrousova, the American took the court wearing Lululemon’s navy blue V-waist cropped tank top and matching v-waist skirt—as seen on Lululemon ambassador Leylah Fernandez throughout the tournament—along with a white Nike visor and tennis shoes. After a bathroom break, she was back in the Swoosh, wearing a Nike Court Dri Fit Advantage Dress to close out the match.

While the “unsponsored life” is giving Stearns the liberty to mix and match her on-court looks to her heart’s content, something tells us that probably won’t be the case for much longer as the former University of Texas player, who turned pro last June, has skyrocketed up the rankings in her short career. And she’s set to rise even higher after her US Open run: Stearns appears poised for a Top 50 debut, with the unofficial WTA live rankings currently showing her at world No. 44, pending other results.

“I've kind of set goals in the rankings a little bit for myself, and I keep surpassing those goals, so I have to keep creating new ones—which is a great thing,” Stearns said in a US Open press conference. “It's moving very quickly. But I have to learn very quickly, as well.

“Because of how fast it's moving, I don't have time to absorb a lot of things in. But I think I do a pretty good job of learning very quickly.”