A determined and dangerous looking Sloane Stephens brushed aside two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka in the third round of the US Open on Friday. The third seed produced a fine performance to down Azarenka 6-3, 6-4 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The defending champion began the match in fantastic fashion as she was moving terrifically on the court, hitting her shots beautifully on the run, and using the angles extremely well. On the other hand Azarenka was really struggling with her first serve and it cost her dearly early on in the first set as she lost her serve in the third game.
Stephens was generating so much power on her shots and directing them towards Azarenka, who was allowing herself to be dragged all over the place. Errors on the Azarenka forehand continued to pile and Stephens broke to love to take the first set. It was really solid tennis from the American.
Stephens picked up where she left off, and Azarenka was looking more and more frustrated at her inability to play her aggressive brand of tennis, which she is known for. Stephens was making mistakes, but they all still seemed to be staying in the court, whereas Azarenka’s errors were giving away points and the vital break in the 4th game of the second set. However, Stephens gave the break right back, with a double-fault.
Azarenka then found her rhythm and surged ahead for the first time with a break of serve. But, her happiness didn’t last long as Stephens broke back again after a brief rain break, which forced the roof to be closed. It was undoubtedly tremendous tennis from Stephens eventually, breaking the Azarenka serve once more to finish off the match. The rallying was simply exceptional during the encounter.
In her on-court interview, Stephens credited her fighting spirit for the win. She said: “I just battled as hard as I could, ran down every ball. I was playing a former grand slam champion, she raised her level and sometimes things got tight. I just had to stay in it and I did that well. I fought for every point. I’ve never played under this roof so it was super cool. The man upstairs was definitely looking after me. I was thankful for the break.”
