WTA: Beijing: Stephens defeats Asian curse and takes on opponent

After a three-year dry spell, Sloane Stephens defeated her Asian curse in Beijing.

Before the 6:7 (8:10), 6:4, 6:4 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) in the first round was over, last year’s US Open winner had to work hard. Exactly 2:53 hours. For Stephens, it was her first success in Asia since 2015 when she won a match at the China Open.

In the past two weeks, the ninth in the world rankings in Tokyo and Wuhan had failed right from the start. Stephens is still struggling to qualify for the WTA final in Singapore (from 21 October), which will feature the top eight players of the season. In the decisive Porsche Race to Singapore the 25-year-old is currently in seventh place.

In the duel with Pavlyuchenkova, Stephens struggled for a long time in the Night Session at the National Tennis Stadium. In the crazy tiebreak of the first run there were a total of eleven set points – “her” number seven could be transformed by the Russian, before she subsequently met the displeasure of Stephens.

After winning the second run, the American complained that Pavlyuchenkova had let the physio come because of a shoulder-blessur in a 2:5 gap. “That’s disrespectful, you’re not hurt at all,” Stephens said towards her opponent. A dispute developed, in the course of which the chair referee had to have a calming effect on both players.

After the discussion, Stephens quickly took the lead 3-0 in the decisive round. The French Open finalist from Florida had to tremble a few more times, but after almost three hours and in cool temperatures she could be happy about her first success in Asia since 36 months. In the second round of the Premier Mandatory event, which is endowed with 8.285 million euros, Stephens will meet the Chinese wildcard holder Saisai Zheng.

The Single Draw from Beijing