Sloane Stephens Unfazed By ‘Super Tough’ US Open Title Defence - UBITENNIS
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Sloane Stephens Unfazed By ‘Super Tough’ US Open Title Defence

The world No.3 believes not focusing on the title is key for her as she prepares for a quarter-final showdown against Sevastova.

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At this year’s US Open, third seed Sloane Stephens is relishing her latest run in New York as she continues to live up to the high expectations of her home fans.

 

For the second consecutive year, the reigning champion has reached the quarter-finals in Flushing Meadows. On Sunday she strolled to a 6-3, 6-3, win over Belgium’s Elise Mertens. A player who she lost to in the Cincinnati Open earlier this year. The latest clash was far from flawless from perfect performance from the American, who hit 25 unforced errors to 16 winners. A stark improvement on Mertens’ tally of 12 and 35.

“I think an American playing at the US Open is incredible. But obviously winning here, being the defending champion is crazy. Then to follow that up and do well again, I think it’s something to really get behind.” Stephens said during her press conference.
“I think the state of American tennis, women’s tennis especially, is incredible right now. I think the support is unbelievable for all American players. Just excited to be playing at a time like this.”

Stephens is bidding to become the 23rd women to defend a title in the history of the US Open and only the fourth within the past 20 years. The 25-year-old is yet to defend a title on the WTA Tour, but has won a total of six titles. Although she is keen to play down the hype surrounding the topic.

“I think defending a title is super tough. It doesn’t happen very often. I think the expectation to come in here and win the tournament is just ridiculous, like it’s you have to take one match at a time.” She said.
“Defending a title isn’t defending. If you were to play the same people in a row again and beat all of them again, that would be defending your title. When you’re playing a whole new draw, different seedings, different ranking, there’s so much that goes into it. When you go to a tournament, it starts all over again.
“I think I try not to put too much emphasis on defending the title, just try to come in and win as many matches as possible, like keep playing, keep going.”

The eagerness to play down her chances is partly due to that fact Stephens continues to find it ‘weird’ to refer to herself as a US Open champion. She entered last year’s tournament with the use of her protected ranking following a lengthy absence from the tour due to injury. Defeating Madison keys in straight sets during the final.

Flashbacks of what happened 12 months ago may be triggered in her upcoming quarter-final match. Stephens will take on Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, who knocked out Elina Svitolina in three sets. The two players also clash at the same stage of the tournament last year. On that occasion, Stephens rallied to a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4), win.

“I think it will be a good match. I played her in Montreal. We played a good match. Hoping to just get out there and kind of execute the same game plan. Obviously won’t be easy. Quarterfinals of a Grand Slam is always really tough. A big opportunity for both of us.” She said about the upcoming clash.

Stephens leads Sevastova 2-1 in their head-to-head.

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Andy Murray reaches the quarter final in Zhuhai

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Two-time Olympic champion Andy Murray beat Chinese wild card Mo Ye Cong 7-5 6-3 to advance to the second round at the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships. 

 

Murray won three titles at the  Shanghai Masters 1000 in 2010, 2011 and 2016, the ATP 500 in Beijing in 2016 and the ATP 250 in Shenzhen in 2014. 

Murray saved all five break points he faced. The British player bounced back from the disappointment at the US Open, where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in three sets. 

Murray broke serve at love in the 12th game to close out a hard-fought first set 7-5. The Scotsman fought back from 0-40 down to hold serve in the first game of the second set. 

Murray broke serve at love in the fourth game to open up a 3-1 lead and hit his 10thace of the match to close out the second set 6-3. 

Murray set up a second round match against Aslan Karatsev, who came back from a set and a break down to beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in 3 hours and 22 minutes. Arnaldi reached the fourth round at the US Open this year. Karatsev and Arnaldi went on serve in the first set en route to the tie-break. Arnaldi earned the first mini-break to take a 4-3 lead. Karatsev pulled back to draw level to 5-5. Karatsev earned his second mini-break to win the tie-break 7-5. on his fifth set point.

Karatsev saved two break points in the first game of the second set. Arnaldi broke serve in the fourth game to take a 4-3 lead. Karatsev broke straight in the fifth game. Arnaldi went up a second break to take a 5-4 lead earning the chance to serve for the match, but Karatsev pulled back on serve for the second time to draw level to 5-5. Arnaldi went up a mini-break to take a 4-2 lead, but Karatsev won five of the next six points with two mini-breaks to close out the tie-break 7-5. Karatsev broke twice in the first and third games  Arnaldi saved three match points on serve at 1-5, but Karatsev served out the win on his fifth match point. 

Karatsev broke his losing streak of four consecutive defeats against Italian players. 

Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Australian qualifier Luke Saville 6-4 6-4 to set up a quarter final match against Next Gen ATP Czech Dalibor Svrcina 6-4 6-4. 

Australian qualifier Marc Polmans cruised past David Sweeny 6-3 6-1 to set up a quarter final against Cameron Norrie. Polmans has won the sixth match of his career on hard court and his first since the Australian Open 2022. 

Kimmer Coppejans beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 to win his first ATP Tourn match. 

Alex Bolt was leading 6-3 4-2 when Diego Schwartzman was forced to withdraw from the match. 

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Roman Safiulin cruises past Brandon Nakashima at the Chengdu Open

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Roman Safiulin cruised past Brandon Nakashima 6-4 6-4 in 88 minutes to reach the second round at the Chengdu Open. 

 

Safiulin hit 22 winners to Nakashima’s 17 and did not face a break point. He broke once in each set. 

“I think the most important thing was to hold my serve and just try to get some break points and try to use them. That was the main goal for the match”, said Saifiulin. 

Safiulin reached his first Grand Slam quarter final at Wimbledon moving up to world number 43 in the ATP Ranking. The Russian player set up a second round match against fourth seed Daniel Evans. 

Corentin Moutet beat Chinese wild card Mu Tao 6-2 6-2. The Frenchman set up either Miomir Kecmanovic or qualifier Benjamin Lock. Moutet earned an early break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Mu broke straight back to draw level to 2-2. Moutet won the final four games with two breaks to close out the first set 6-2. The Frenchman broke twice in the fifth and seventh games to seal the second set 6-2. 

Taro Daniel came back from one set down to beat Alexander Vukic 4-6 6-2 6-2. Daniel will face either Christopher O’Connell or Alibek Kachmazov. Vukic broke serve in the fourth game of the first set to take a 3-1 lead. Daniel broke back to love in the seventh game and held serve to draw level to 4-4. Vukic broke for the time in the 10th time to win the first set 6-4. 

Daniel broke in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Vukic broke back to draw level to 3-3. Daniel earned a second break in the ninth game to seal the second set 6-2 forcing the match to the decider. Daniel broke twice in the first and seventh games to win the second set 6-2. 

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Caroline Garcia, Victoria Azarenka and Ons Jabeur to reach the Round of 16 at the Guadalajara Open

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Number 3 seed Caroline Garcia saved two match points to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 at the Guadalajara Open AKRON. 

 

Garcia was a point away from losing to Sasnovich for the first time after five consecutive wins as the world number 89 was serving for the win at 6-4 6-5. 

Garcia fended off a break point in her first service game before earning a decisive break at love at 3-3.

Garcia set up a third round match against Hailey Bapriste, who saved a match point to upset Karolina Pliskova. 

“We saw a few forehands directly in the wall behind the court, but it is what it is. I am very happy with the way I managed to fight at the end of the second set. I lost a little bit my serve at the end of the first set, but I managed to come back. It’s a great win, and I definitely wins”, said Garcia.  

Former world 1 Victoria Azarenka beat Dayana Yastremska 6-4 7-6 (7-5). Azarenka earned a break in the third game to seal the first set 6-4. Yastremska broke serve at love in the second game to open up a 2-0 lead. Azarenka broke straight back in the third game. Yastremska broke for the second time at love in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Azarenka broke serve for the second time before saving two set points at 5-4 in the second set. Both players traded the mini-break three times in the tie-break. Azarenka earned his fourth mini-break to win the tie-break 7-5. 

Azarenka set up a third round match against Veronika Kudemertova, who won both of their head-to-head matches in Dubai in 2022 and at the Adelaide International 2 in 2023. 

Ons Jabeur cruised past Alycia Parks 6-2 6-2 in 59 minutes to improve her head-to-record against the US record to 3-0. Jabeur had previously beaten Parks in Charleston in 2021 and Berlin in 2022. 

Jabeur is aiming her second WTA 1000 title of her career after winning at the Madrid Mutua Open in 2022. 

Jabeur broke with a passing winner in the first game. Parks made 26 unforced errors in the first set. 

Jabeur earned an early break at love in the first game of the second set. Parks broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Jabeur won the next four games to seal the second set 6-2. 

Jabeur converted five of her break points. Parks hit six aces and made seven double faults. 

Jabeur set up a Round of 16 match against Martina Trevisan, who beat Jasmine Paolini 7-5 6-2. The Tunisian player beat Trevisan 6-2 6-2 in Charleston in 2021. 

Maria Sakkari beat Storm Hunter 6-2 6-4 to set up a Round of 16 match against Camila Giorgi. Sakkari leads 3-0 in her previous head-to-head matches against Giorgi. Emma Navarro beat number 4 seed Madison Keys 6-2 7-6 (7-5) to set up a Round of 16 match against Leylah Fernandez.

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