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Sport

U.S. Open: Ex-tennis champion Stephens ousted by Russian qualifier

US Open

New York, Aug. 28, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Former champion Sloane Stephens was stunned by Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya 6-3 6-4 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday after an inconsistent display during which she was unable to find any sort of rhythm.

The American 11th seed, who triumphed here in 2017, fought off two match points but on the third was caught out of position behind the baseline.

The Russian ripped a backhand that clipped the net chord and landed in.

“I was playing one good point, one bad point, one good point. The inconsistency doesn’t help me at all,” said Stephens.

“She did a good job just staying there, keep fighting. She never really let me in. Kudos to her. She executed her game style really well.”

Kalinskaya, playing her first career Grand Slam night match and first inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, did not appear intimidated facing Stephens.

The 20-year-old Russian, who won three qualifying matches to make the main draw, broke Stephens at her first opportunity to pull ahead 5-3 in the first set.

And she never looked back as she went on to secure the biggest win of her young career.

“It feels amazing to win the first match on this court, a subdued Kalinskaya said in her on-court interview.

“I just tried to focus and don’t think too much about her and think just about my game.”

Kalinskaya was only broken once during the match and managed to convert three of her four break point chances.

Up next for Kalinskaya will be American wildcard Kristie Ahn, who stunned Cincinnati runner-up and 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier on Tuesday. (Reuters/NAN)

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edited by Sadiya Hamza

Sport

Pavlyuchenkova wins marathon contest to reach Australian Open quarter-finals

Contest
Melbourne (Australia), Jan. 20, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won a marathon three-setter against American fifth seed Sloane Stephens 6-7(3) 6-3 6-3 to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on Sunday.

With the victory which matched her best show in Grand Slams, the unseeded Russian reached her second quarter-final at Melbourne Park after her 2017 run.

She will now meet another American in Danielle Collins for a place in the last four.

Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open winner, started strongly by gaining a 4-1 advantage, but her Russian opponent got the break back before the 25-year-old American won the set via a tiebreaker.

The second set started in similar fashion with Stephens breaking early to run up a 2-0 lead before another fightback from the 27-year-old Pavlyuchenkova.

The Russian got back on serve in the fourth game before breaking Stephens to go up 5-3 and then converted her third set point to level the match.

In the first game of the third set, Stephens saved eight breakpoints to hold in a marathon game that lasted for 26 points and close to 20 minutes.

Stephens then lost steam as the world number 44 converted her second match point to seal the day’s final match in two hours and 32 minutes, finishing at almost 2 a.m. Monday local time.

After the game, Pavlyuchenkova said she hated an icebath but her physio would still make her have one in spite of the late finish.

“I was even thinking during the match that some of you guys stayed…I heard somebody was yawning though sometimes during the match,” the Russian said in her on-court interview.

“I’m sorry, I thought it was quite an exciting match.

“Sloane is a great player, is a fighter… and I had to be aggressive, yeah.”

Unseeded Collins had thrashed 2016 champion and second seed Angelique Kerber 6-0 6-2 earlier on Sunday.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Joseph Edeh and Olawale Alabi)

 

Sport

Former U.S. Open champion, Sloane Stephens, qualifies for first WTA finals

WTA

Singapore, Oct. 15, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Former U.S. Open champion, Sloane Stephens, has qualified for her first season-ending Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals in Singapore, the WTA Tour said on Monday.

Stephens joins fellow Grand Slam champions Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki in the singles field for the Oct. 21-28 event.

Two spots remain open for the elite eight-player field, with Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova in prime position to qualify for the round-robin tournament that offers $7 million (5.34 million pounds) in prize money.

“I’m honoured to qualify for my first WTA Finals,” said Stephens, who was runner-up to Halep at Roland Garros earlier this year.

“I’m looking forward to … competing against the best players of the season.”

The American also won her first Premier-level event in Miami earlier this year and rose to a career-high ranking of three in July. The 25-year-old was also a runner-up in Montreal.

Stephens won her first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2017 but was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Anastasija Sevastova this year.

Osaka won the U.S. Open, while Kerber won Wimbledon and Wozniacki clinched the Australian Open title this year. (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

Sport

Halep beats Stephens in repeat of French Open win

Tennis
Montreal, Aug. 12, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) World number one Simona Halep beat American Sloane Stephens  7-6(6) 3-6 6-4 to win the Rogers Cup women’s title in Montreal on Sunday.

For the Romanian Halep, the game was a rematch of their French Open finale in Paris in June.

Halep, who had beaten Stephens then, claimed her second Montreal title in three years and third for the 2018 season.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Halep fights back to finally clinch French Open title

UPDATED

Title

Paris, June 9, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) World number one Simona Halep ended years of heartache to clinch her first Grand Slam title with 3-6 6-4 6-1 victory over American Sloane Stephens in the French Open final on Saturday.

The popular Romanian, who had lost three major finals before Saturday, showed signs of nerves at first but recovered to outclass her 10th-seeded opponent.

“Thanks guys it was amazing and I felt your support,” Halep, twice a runner-up in Paris before Saturday, told the crowd who were chanting her name.

“In the last game I couldn’t breathe, I just didn’t want to repeat what happened the other years. I dreamed of this moment since I started to play tennis and I can’t believe it.”

U.S. Open champion Stephens used her powerful game to full effect to take the first set but then ran out of steam as Romania’s Halep completed a memorable victory.

The American, who will break into the top five for the first time when the new rankings are released on Monday, broke Halep in the fourth game before taking the first set after 41 minutes.

The second set was tighter as the players traded breaks until Halep finally got back on level terms when Stephens hit a backhand wide on set point.

Halep kept up the momentum in the third set on Saturday to open up a 5-0 lead before earning a match point with a raging smash.

She was beaten in the 2017 final despite holding a set and 3-0 lead against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.

Stevens netted a service return to bow out. (Reuters/NAN)

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Sport

Stephens eyes quick rebound at Elite Trophy

NAN-S-14
Trophy
New York, Oct. 30, 2017 (Reuters/NAN) U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens is determined to end the season on a positive note at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China.

She has failed to win a match since her shock victory at Flushing Meadows.

The 24-year-old American stunned the sport in September when in her first Grand Slam final she became the lowest-ranked woman (83) to win the U.S. Open singles title.

However, in spite of her impressive triumph and surge up the world rankings she suffered first-round defeats at the Wuhan Open and the China Open in Beijing.

This was before she pulled out of the Hong Kong Open earlier this month.

Stephens, who will play her first round-robin event at this week’s Elite Trophy, blamed her recent defeats on a lack of preparation.

“I’d say winning the U.S. Open isn’t the best preparation to go play two tournaments right after,” she told a news conference on Monday.

“But I had to get out there and play because it was on my schedule.

“Before winning the U.S. Open, having those good results, I was basically trying to get into the Australian Open. These tournaments were really necessary for me to play.”

Stephens, seeded third, is placed at the top of the Camellia Group alongside Latvian Anastasija Sevastova and Barbora Strycova of Czech Republic.

Angelique Kerber, who clinched both Australian and U.S. Open titles last year, said the Elite Trophy will allow her to lay a foundation for a fresh start in 2018.

“I‘m trying to look ahead and trying to end the year as well as I can by putting everything on the court,” said the 29-year-old German.

“It’s a tough tournament, but it’s an opportunity to get better, have good competition and maybe also going with a good feeling to next season.”

Kerber was drawn in the Rose Group alongside fourth seed Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Ashleigh Barty of Australia.

The Elite Trophy features the world’s top 12 singles players who did not qualify for the WTA Finals last week.

The round-robin format will see the winners from each of the four groups advance to the semi-finals.(Reuters/NAN)

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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)