Sloane Stephens successfully enters the WTA finals. In the duel between the US Open winners of the past two years, the US player won against Naomi Osaka 7-5, 4-6 and 6-1.
Osaka had a bad start against the US player. In the first service game she had to give up her service, but shortly afterwards she brought everything back into line with a 1:1 rebreak. Nevertheless, the Asian was under pressure at the WTA final debut, especially on the backhand side, where she was far too flawed.
Stephens, for example, managed another 4-3 break thanks to another backhand error from her opponent, but Osaka also struck back this time – not least thanks to two double errors from her opponent and a great point on breakpoint.
In the service game that followed, Stephens earned a 5-4 break chance, but Osaka fended it off with a service winner and set it at 5-4. The sixth in the world rankings, however, did not wiggle at all when serving against the loss of the set, equalled 5-5 and, thanks to further backhand mistakes by Osaka, managed to break 6-5.
This time, however, Osaka were not to come back, the 25-year-old served 30 and won the first set 7-5. Stephens was more consistent than her opponent, especially from the baseline, and therefore did not win the first set undeservedly.
The game remained well-balanced, with Osaka putting pressure on their opponents’ service for the first time at 2-1. However, Stephens remained cool and fended off all four break possibilities of the Asian. This initially had an effect on Osaka, but with some outstanding tennis she was able to fend off two break chances of the US Open winner of 2017 and take the lead 3:2.
The 21-year-old took the momentum from the previous service game with her and took Stephens the service to 4-2. The match remained on a knife’s edge, but Osaka was able to defend another break point with a strong serve and went away to 5:2.
But those who thought the match was already in the third set were mistaken. Stephens continued to fight bravourös and could shorten to 4:5. The ups and downs should continue in the next game, brilliant tennis was followed by inexplicable mistakes.
This was also the case with the set balls for Osaka: Stephens fended off the first one sensationally, she made a double mistake with the second one. The third run had to bring the decision.
As in the first section, Stephens got off to a better start and immediately made the break to 1-0. US Open winner Osaka wanted to counter immediately and immediately found three break chances in a row. However, the US player was able to win five points in a row and set a score of 2:0.
Brisant: Stephens supposedly made a double mistake at breakball, but chair referee Marija Čičak corrected the call and had the point repeated. In fact, the serve had ended, but Osaka renounced the challenge and so it was 2:0 for Stephens instead of 1:1 in the third set.
In the next game, the Japanese defended a break point, but two games later the American managed to break to 4:1. Osaka’s resistance was broken, with a double fault she lost the match.
In the third match of the WTA finals the 7:5, 4:6 and 6:1 victory of the 25-year-old Stephens is the third victory of the lower seeded player. For Osaka, the group with Angelique Kerber and Kiki Bertens is all about the next encounter, while Stephens can celebrate a great tournament start.