Once again Sloane Stephens achieved some more slam glory at the expenses of her great friend Madison Keys.
Last year, the American beat Madison in the US Open final 6-3 6-0, this year it was time to win again in the Roland Garros semifinal 6-4 6-4.
The match vs. Madison
Sloane didn’t do “much” in terms of being aggressive to play a rather controlled match taking advantage of an extremely erratic match from Madison that committed 41 unforced errors. Therefore, the rule of the game for Sloane was “just” being calm and take advantage as much as she could. Stephens won the first set after conquering a crucial break in the 3rd game (2-1); in the second set she won another couple of important breaks in the 1st (1-0) and 7th game (5-2), but then she was unable to serve out the match while leading 5-2. Eventually, Sloane didn’t fail to hold serve in the 10th game to win the encounter in straight sets.
It’s difficult to play a person you care. STEPHENS
Soon after the match, Sloane commented
“It’s never easy playing someone from your country, let alone someone you actually, like, care about and you’re friends with.
I think more when I play Maddy; it’s just—on the court it’s very competitive. We’re always very competitive. But it’s a little weird. There’s not as much, ‘Come ons’ and things like that. We have a lot of respect for each other. It’s a little different in that aspect.”
The final vs. Halep
Sloane will play the final against Simona Halep. The head to head is 5-2 for Simona that also leads 2-0.
| ANOTHER SLAM TITLE? |
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