Sloane Stephens stuns defending champion Caroline Garcia, Ons Jabeur rallies at Cincinnati Open
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Sloane Stephens of the United States celebrating her win against Caroline Garcia of France during their third round match at the Cincinnati Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on Tuesday in Mason, Ohio.
PHOTO: AFP
CINCINNATI – American Sloane Stephens battled back to defeat defending champion Caroline Garcia 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and reach the third round of the Cincinnati Open on Tuesday, while Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur mounted an incredible comeback of her own to also advance.
Stephens was ecstatic after executing a perfect volley on match point to claim the win as the 2017 US Open champion looks to sharpen her game ahead of the year’s final Major, which kicks off later in August in New York.
“Thank you guys so much, it was so electric in here and so fun,” Stephens said in an on-court interview under the lights.
“I felt like I played really well and was really consistent, but honestly there is nothing better than playing in the US in front of an American crowd. Incredible audience and atmosphere.”
Stephens was tentative with her serve early on and was broken for a second time in the 10th game as Garcia grabbed the first set.
But the six-seeded Frenchwoman appeared rattled when she dropped her serve early in the second set and Stephens rode that advantage to level the match.
It looked like Stephens would run away with the decider when she raced out to a 3-0 double-break lead but Garcia dug deep to level at 4-4.
But Stephens would not be denied, breaking back and coolly serving out the match to set up a meeting with either Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova or Anastasia Potapova.
The fifth-ranked Jabeur, in her first match since suffering “the most painful loss” of her career in the Wimbledon final, clawed her way from a 1-5 deficit in the final set to beat Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-2).
“It’s really nice to know where I can go, what I can push, you know, and today was really tough. It was tough to believe I could win this match,” said Jabeur, who is into the third round after a first-round bye.
“A lot of frustration in that third set but I’m glad I kept going.”
Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka upset Czech 11th seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-5 to reach the second round.
“I am just a fighter and I will keep going until I get it right,” Azarenka said during her on-court interview.
“My mentality has been like this since I’m a kid. Growing up not in the greatest conditions I had to fight for everything and that really shaped my personality today.”
Danish wildcard Caroline Wozniacki, in her second tournament out of retirement, lost her opening match 6-4, 6-4 to lucky loser Varvara Gracheva of France.
“I still have about 10 days to prepare for the US Open. There are quite a few things that I feel like I need to do better,” said Wozniacki.
Czech ninth seed Petra Kvitova, a Cincinnati finalist last year, also booked her spot in the second round with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-0 win over Russian Anna Blinkova.
In other early action, Jelena Ostapenko beat former Cincinnati champion Karolina Pliskova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will next face fourth seed Elena Rybakina. REUTERS, AFP
