Sloan Stephens, Kiki Bertens grind out 3-set wins at WTA Finals
She may be a debutante at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, but Sloane Stephens already has nine years of experience on the professional tour, facing opponents of all varieties. Not to mention owning a US Open title which she won so convincingly in 2017.
On Monday (22 October), facing the current US Open champion and overwhelming crowd favourite Naomi Osaka in the round-robin stage of the season-ending tournament at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the 25-year-old American stayed patient, waiting for her less experienced opponent to make errors and picking the right time to launch her own winners.
It still took three sets, but in the end, the usually stoic Osaka was throwing her racket and sighing in frustration as Stephens ground out a compelling 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 victory in 2hrs 23min.
“I knew from the very beginning it was obviously going to be a tough match, so I was going to have to stay in a lot of long points and make sure that I made a lot of plays on the ball, which I did,” the American said after her win.
“When she was hitting good shots, I still got my racket on a lot of the balls and I just made her play an extra ball.”
Osaka later acknowledged that her inconsistency was the difference in the match, with Stephens forcing her deep behind the baseline, which was not her usual playing style.
However, she insisted that she has no regrets over her defeat, saying, “Usually after I lose, I have very specific things that I think would have changed the match. But I don’t really have any regrets, this entire match was a really hard battle.”
With the duo’s battle taking nearly two-and-a-half hours, the second match of the night started at around 10.30pm, and it was another three-set, two-hour-plus battle before Kiki Bertens – a first-time singles participant and a last-minute replacement for the injured Simona Halep – stunned top-seeded Angelique Kerber 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
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