Sloane Stephens keeps on having a rather interesting career.
The world no.12 is used to go from long periods full of not-so-good results to glorious stints.
The American has been sidelined for long because of a foot injury and then out of the blue in 2017 she started to record great runs that culminated with the US Open title. After that, Sloane didn’t win a single match in 5 months until Acapulco. Then, after crashing out in the 3rd round in Indian Wells, Stephens storms in the Miami final after beating the likes of Muguruza, Kerber, and now Azarenka.
The match against Azarenka
Besides the rankings (Azarenka is no. 186 at the moment), Sloane was probably the underdog in this match. After losing the opening set (6-3), it seemed as the Belorussian was getting tired as she is not used to playing long tournaments after her pregnancy. That was the clue for the American to push hard, and eventually she recovered from a 3-6 1-2 (1 break down) deficit to win 11 of the following 12 games and conquer the Miami final with a 3-6 6-2 6-1 scoreline.
I wasn’t feeling well for all match. AZARENKA
After the match, Vika admitted that she wasn’t feeling well to comment
“I honestly didn’t feel good at all the whole match. I felt like I was a little bit too slow. It’s just I was fresher in the first set and getting to the ball at the right time. And then I stopped getting to the ball. I stopped hitting the ball the way I should be hitting the ball. You know, she’s gonna jump on it. She had great shots.”
Sloane will face either Collins or Ostapenko in the final.
| 1 STEP FROM ANOTHER GREAT TITLE |
| Embed from Getty Images |
