Once again, Sloane Stephens has demonstrated that rare ability to reinvent herself.
Four years ago, she came into the US Open ranked No. 83 and without a Grand Slam singles win for the season. And then ran the table, beating among others Ashleigh Barty, Venus Williams and, in the final, Madison Keys.
After a career-high, year-end ranking of No.6 in 2018, she fell to No.25 in 2019 and No.39 in 2020. Stephens entered Wimbledon at No.73 and, sure enough, she knocked out two-time Wimbledon champion and No.10 seed Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 in Monday’s first round.
“I think a lot of it is just being positive and knowing that you’ve been at a certain level before and trying to get back there,” Stephens told reporters afterward. “I think for me the biggest thing was feeling good on the court, feeling like I’m competing like I’m in matches.
“Obviously playing against Petra, you have to bring your A game. I thought I played really well today. I’m just trying to keep the momentum going.”
Stephens, 28, will take on fellow American Kristie Ahn in a Wednesday second-round encounter. Ahn, an exceptionally lucky loser ranked No.117, was an overtime winner against Heather Watson, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 8-6.
The triumph against Kvitova was the only one of the 64 Wimbledon main-draw women’s matches to feature two former Grand Slam champions, and it underlined the resurgence in Stephens’ game. After a difficult 2020 season, she rediscovered her spark for the game in a rigorous Florida training block.
Eleven years ago, Stephens was a junior singles quarterfinalist at Wimbledon and won the doubles event with Timea Babos. She got to the Wimbledon quarters in 2013, losing to eventual champion Marion Bartoli and was a semifinalist at Eastbourne in 2015.
Wednesday will be another frantic day at Wimbledon, with 22 first-round matches from Tuesday added because of rain.
Bonus matches from Tuesday include: No. 5 Bianca Andreescu-Alize Cornet, No.9 Belinda Bencic-Kaja Juvan, No. 12 Victoria Azarenka- Kateryna Kozlova, No.24 Anett Kontaveit-Marketa Vondrousova, No. 31 Daria Kasatkina-Patricia Maria Tig, Jelena Ostapenko versus Leylah Fernandez, Sorana Cistea-Samantha Murray Sharan, Greet Minnen-Ajla Tomlanjovic, Emma Raducanu-Vitalia Diatchenko, Katerina Siniakova-Wang Yafan, Ellen Perez-Clara Burel, Olga Govortsova-Coco Vandeweghe.
Sabalenka aims for first third-round appearance
Seeded at No.2, her highest in a Grand Slam, Aryna Sabalenka on Monday won only the second Wimbledon match of her career, 6-1, 6-4 over Monica Niculescu.
“I didn’t know what’s going to happen on that court,” Sabalenka said later. “I’m really happy from the first, I would say, points. I felt really, really good on the grass, like on the new grass.”
The 23-year-old from Belarus hit 48 winners but showed a subtle side, mixing in some slices, drop shots and, in the match’s last game, a successful serve-and-volley. Sabalenka won her only previous match at the All England Club after qualifying in 2017.
The highlight of her season was beating World No.1 Barty in the Madrid final. But this fact remains: She’s the only Top 20 seed who has yet to reach a major quarterfinal.
Sabalenkla’s second-round opponent is Katie Boulter, who defeated qualifier Danielle Lao 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4. Boulter, a 24-year-old British wildcard, knows her way around the grass, but Sabalenka holds the 1-0 head-to-head advantage, a straight-sets win in the second round of the 2019 Australian Open.
“I’m super excited to get out there already,” Boulter said. “I know what to expect. I know she’s a power player. It’s going to be really difficult. She's ranked what she is for a reason. Ultimately, all I’m going to do is go out there, enjoy myself, put my game on the line, see what I can do. I’ve got absolutely nothing to lose.”
Sizzling service
It’s no secret the slick grass surface amplifies big serves. No.21 Ons Jabeur won all 18 of her first-serve points in a 6-2, 6-1 win over Rebecca Peterson. No.15 Maria Sakkari was 15-for-15 in defeating Arantxa Rus 6-1, 6-1. Neither player faced a break point.
Next up for Jabeur: Venus Williams, who edged Mihaela Buzarnescu 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Venus had lost four of her previous five first-round matches at the majors.
“Ons I would say is one of my favorite people on tour,” Venus told reporters. “Honestly she’s just breaking down barriers. The first woman from [Tunisia] to do anything that she's doing. She just won her first tournament, so she’s got to be feeling great.
“I just think you’re going to see a whole 'nother generation of women from North Africa or wherever coming into tennis. It’s going to be all owed to her. I think she's inspiring so many people, including me.”
Sakkari gets Shelby Rogers, a three-set winner over Samantha Stosur.
How far can Muguruza go?
Garbiñe Muguruza is in the midst of a terrific season. She won the title in Dubai, beating Iga Swiatek, Sabalenka, Elise Mertens and Barbora Krejcikova with a flourish. She’s won 26 of 35 matches.
But to nitpick, the 27-year-old Spaniard lost her past two events to players ranked outside the Top 50 – No. 81 Marta Kostyuk at Roland Garros and No. 63 Alize Cornet in Berlin.
For Muguruza, though, Wimbledon seems to cure all ills.
On Monday, she defeated No.51 Fiona Ferro 6-0, 6-1. She’ll get a look at another longshot, No.174 Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove on Wednesday. The qualifier surprised Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3.
It was at Wimbledon that Muguruza advanced to her first major final, in 2015, losing to Serena Williams. Two years later, she defeated Venus Williams in the final at the All England Club, where her overall record is a tidy 17-6.
“I don’t feel really the pressure,” Muguruza said. “I don’t feel I have anything to prove. I have played well here. I’m excited to be back. Every year is really, let’s see how far can I go in Wimbledon, how many matches can I get on grass court?”
America, America
There are 11 Americans into the second round – from the bottom half of the draw alone: Sofia Kenin, Stephens, Venus Williams, Madison Keys, Danielle Collins, Lauren Davis, Ahn, Shelby Rogers, Madison Brengle and Claire Liu. No.22 Jessica Pegula joined them later Tuesday with a straight-sets win against Caroline Garcia.
But three All-American second-round matches are on tap.
Sofia Kenin is the highest seed, at No.4.
Kenin handled qualifier Wang Xinyu 6-4, 6-2. Kenin wasn’t happy with her movement, but said her serve and return saved her.
“So there is some little stuff I have to improve, but overall I’m quite happy with the way I played,” Kenin said. “It’s my first match on grass since I didn’t play any previous grass tournaments. Of course I was a little bit more nervous since it was my first match on grass and it happens to be at Wimbledon.
“So obviously a little bit of nerves, but I was able to manage it.”
Head to Head
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Kenin next plays Madison Brengle, a 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 winner over another American Christina McHale. Kenin won their only meeting, a first-round match at the 2018 US Open in three sets.
No. 23 Madison Keys is up against fellow American Lauren Davis after defeating qualifier Katie Swan 6-3, 6-4. Keys leads the head-to-head 3-2, but they haven’t played in more than six years.
Keys is one of 11 active players to win multiple titles on the grass. Her best effort here is a quarterfinals berth in 2015, losing to Agnieszka Radwanska.
“That run was, I feel like it was forever ago now, but it was great,” Keys said. “It was obviously the first time I did really well at Wimbledon. It’s the furthest I have ever gone. I just really remember not really expecting a lot of myself that year. Just enjoying every match and playing super free.”
Swiatek’s track record
No.7 Iga Swiatek got her first main-draw win at Wimbledon, 6-4, 6-4, over Hsieh Su-Wei but she’s quite familiar with the grounds. Swiatek was the 2018 junior champion, one of seven in the field.
“When I came here, I realized that I’m on Wimbledon, and everybody started talking about my junior run again,” Swiatek said. “I realized that, `Hey, it would be nice to win some matches.’ I mean, I had some expectations.”
First #Wimbledon main draw win...@iga_swiatek defeats Su-wei Hsieh 6-4, 6-4 to open her account 💪 pic.twitter.com/uNseTqSBAX
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 28, 2021
“I’m just going to perform well, and actually, learn something because I only played one week on grass.”
Now it’s Vera Zvonareva, a 7-5, 6-4 winner against Marie Bouzkova. It was the first Wimbledon win for Zvonareva in seven years.
Zvonareva, 36, and Swiatek, 20, have never played.
A qualified success
Maybe it was because this is the first event at Wimbledon in two years, or perhaps the shortened transition from clay to grass. Or a tribute to the depth in the women’s game.
In any case, four qualifiers from the bottom half of the draw are into the second round: Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, who defeated Anna Kalinskaya 1-6, 6-0, 6-4, plays No.32 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, Ahn gets Stephens, Pattinama Kerkhove plays No. 11 Muguruza and Claire Liu, who defeated Misaki Doi 2-6, 6-3, 9-7, faces No.18 Elena Rybakina.
Other notable matches
No. 8 Karolina Pliskova vs. Donna Vekic: Pliskova defeated Tamara Zidansek 7-5, 6-4, while Vekic beat Anastasia Potapova 6-1, 6-4. Pliskova has won four of their five previous matches, most recently the first round of the 2021 French Open in straight sets.
No. 13 Elise Mertens vs. Zhu Lin: Mertens defeated British wildcard Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-3 and Zhu took out Mona Barthel 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-3. Mertens holds a 2-1 head-to-head edge, including a straight-sets win in the second round of the 2021 Australian Open.
