By Steve Drumwright – Red Line Editorial
SAN DIEGO — Katerina Stewart had just lost a tough match and made a beeline for the players’ area to gather her things.
Her frustration was clear. After storming to a decisive win in the opening game of a women’s singles gold-medal match at the 2025 USA Pickleball National Championships, Stewart lost in three games.
No matter her emotions, Stewart remembered she had duties to fulfill as the silver medalist. There was the on-court TV interview, the Founders Legacy Cup trophy presentation and receiving her medal.
Stewart made her way back to Championship Court. Her mood changed, at least on the surface, during the TV interview, especially when her opponent, top-seeded Sofia Sewing, gushed over Stewart for giving her a tough match. The presentation continued with pictures, as Sewing invited Stewart to participate, with smiles breaking out as both kissed the massive trophy both had been battling for just moments before Sewing’s 5-11, 11-5, 11-5 triumph.
“We’ve known each other, I think, since we were 10 years old growing up in tennis,” Stewart, 28, said of the fellow Florida native who is two years younger. “We’ve always been really good friends. It’s cool to see both of us being successful in a different sport now. Like I said down there, I think if I would lose anyone, I’d rather it be her. I’m happy for whatever success she has as well. Even though it hurts me. I’m super happy for her as well.”
While Sewing has owned the matchups between the two, this was not an underdog run to the gold-medal match. Despite having just 17 tournaments under her belt entering Nationals since joining the APP Tour about two years ago, Stewart has quickly risen to the No. 2-ranked player in the pro women’s singles division — behind Sewing — thanks to winning a pair of titles.
But there is progress being made as Stewart continues to transition from tennis. Just about two weeks prior, the duo squared off in the APP Mesa Open championship match, with Sewing sweeping 15-7, 15-12. Particularly in singles, Stewart said she is still trying to figure out what tactics work best for her.
“I think it’s just more finding the balance between what my pickleball game is going to be and what my tennis game was,” Stewart said. “My tennis game was very defensive, and I feel like that’s not going to translate well to this sport. So, it’s kind of finding the in between of what works for me.”
In Friday’s match, which included trying to charge the net.
“I did that differently today. I normally don’t do that against her,” Stewart said. “I was just trying something different because she’s been dominant at the singles game.”
Even with the loss, Stewart continues to see improvements in her performance.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Stewart said. “I think I’ve been training really, really hard and I think the results this year — this year has been my best year because I think the hard work is paying off. Sofia has pushed me to become a player that I probably couldn’t be without her. Got to give her some credit as well. But I think putting in the work, day in and day out, is what’s got me here.”
Her 3-1 record at Nationals improved her season singles record to 34-10. Singles was Stewart’s best showing of the weekend. In Saturday’s women’s doubles, Stewart teamed up with fellow Floridian Glauka Carvajal Lane, with the No. 11 seed falling in the quarterfinals to Amanda Hendry and Allison Harris 6-11, 11-6, 11-1.
In mixed doubles, which happened on the same day as women’s singles due to all the rain during the week, Stewart and Jae Centonze, seeded 24th, lost in the round of 16 to Susannah Barr and Patrick Kawka 11-5, 11-7.
An injury is what prompted Stewart to transition from tennis to pickleball.
“I got injured at the end of my tennis career and I tried to kind of make a comeback after the injury, but it was a little bit too hard for me,” Stewart said. “Then I just found pickleball randomly. I fell in love with it. I really didn’t transition to become a pro, but I loved it so much and I’m super competitive by nature, so I decided to play some local tournaments. I did well and I thought I wanted to take a shot at it.”
She has found success in pickleball after struggling to find her way in pro tennis, where she reached a peak WTA Tour ranking of 158 in 2015. She played in four Grand Slam qualifiers between 2014 and 2016 but made it to the second round only once — the 2014 U.S. Open.
When asked to compare the two sports, Stewart was quick to defend pickleball, even though you can make four pickleball courts out of one tennis court, thus having less space to cover.
“Pickleball is so hard,” Stewart said. “I feel like tennis players get a lot of hate because they say (pickleball is) so easy, but it’s so difficult. The gap is so small. If you’re really good — there’s so many good players in the field. Obviously, the different balance is tough and it’s just a different game completely. It’s been really hard to transition from tennis because I play a completely different tennis game. But it’s just putting in the work and trying to figure it out.”
Steve Drumwright is a journalist based in Murrieta, California. He is a freelance contributor to USA Pickleball on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
