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Sloane Stephens begins her bid for a second Washington title Tuesday when she plays fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round.
Stephens won her first title in Washington in 2015, but she did not win a match at Since then, the loss to Risa Ozaki and Simona Halep during the opening phases in 2016 and 2017 Of course, Halep's loss last year came during his second tournament since his return from a foot problem that prevented him from playing for the better part of a game. year; and operated early 2017.
Despite this disappointment in Washington, Stephens continued his glorious campaign on the North American courts, recovering with consecutive semi-finals in Toronto and Cincinnati, before continuing to claim his first major at the US Open in one of the most inspiring return performances in the history of the tour.
Stephens then embarked on a frightful post-US Open, in which she lost eight successive games. The beginning of the year 2018. The American admitted that she was trying to force the situation a bit too much during this crisis, but she is too good to stay too long in this situation, and the season away from Australia to return to the North. America, she started to find her groove. The 25-year-old finished this series of defeats with a quarter-final at Acapulco, and two tournaments later, she won her first Premier Mandatory title in Miami, playing on a high-quality course with Garbine Muguruza, champion of Grand Slam. , Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka and Jelena Ostapenko
Stephens' play had always had the potential for success on clay, and this eventually materialized at Roland Garros 2018, where the American experienced his second grand slam final. She led Simona Halep from a set and a break but was out of breath and ended up bowling to the world number one in three sets. Stephens has the habit of blowing very hot and very cold, and she went cold to Wimbledon, where she fell to Donna Vekic in a first round draw, admittedly difficult. In the midst of all this, the American has risen to third place in the world, but she has a lot of work to do over the next few weeks if she wants to keep her rank in the top five places. ten regions, after his good performances from Toronto until the US Open last season. She had the opportunity in Washington to put more points on the board (she lost in R1 last season), and she will start Tuesday against Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Mattek-Sands participates in his fifth draw of the WTA Since returning from a shocking knee injury, she suffered at Wimbledon last season (she lost in the qualifying rounds in Madrid and Rome) .
Bethanie Mattek-Sands. (Photo by Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)
Not that someone deserves such a horrible spell, but it was doubly painful that it happened to Mattek-Sands, one of the most bubbling characters of the tour. The incident occurred during a draw at the All England Club last year, when she risked the net to attempt a volley but ended up to break a tendon in his right knee and disassemble the patella.
She required knee surgery. and did not return to action before this year 's Miami Open. Unsurprisingly, she struggled to leave, losing the first three games of her return to Miami, Charleston and Rabat, but she finally recorded her first win on the main draw since returning to Roland Garros, beating Johanna Larsson before falling. on Andrea Petkovic. second turn. Back on the site of her previous year's woes, Mattek-Sands teamed up with Lucie Safarova in a thrilling run to the quarter-finals of the women's doubles at Wimbledon.
Mattek-Sands did her best work on the doubles track, where she won five Grand Slam titles and two mixed doubles titles, but her singles record is not the worst. She reached at least the third round in each of the four Grand Slam tournaments; The American is now at 381 in the world, but this low ranking is a direct result of the injury she suffered at Wimbledon last year.
Mattek-Sands won just one of his previous five games against Stephens. Interestingly, all these games were on clay. Stephens is again the favorite, and this is not only because Mattek-Sands is still trying to rediscover his feet since his return in March. Stephens' style of defense and attack has been too good for Mattek-Sands in the past, and this should be the case again, with the US Open champion passing in the second round.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sloane Stephens of Washington on Tuesday, July 31st from 2:30 pm local time / 7:30 pm BST
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